Cape+Grysbok

Cape Grysbok By Jordan Springer The Cape Grysbok, also known as the Southern Grysbok, is a petite and stocky species of antelope. Its coat is mainly coppery red accompanied by white hairs along the side of the animal, black on its head, and a lighter brown on its underside. It is extremely short, only about two feet tall. Only the males have horns, which are about two or three inches and stand at a slight forward angle. Both genders have large ears that are the same black coloration as the crown of the animal’s crown. In addition to all this, the Cape Grysbok has a tiny, hoof-shaped protrusion that is on the back of each of its legs.

As far as behavior goes, the Cape Grysbok isn’t very extraordinary. It is, for the most part, nocturnal and solitary. During the day, Cape Grysbok sleeps, mostly in vegetation but occasionally in abandoned aardvark dens. Although Cape Grysboks are mostly independent animals, they will forego this under select circumstances. They will stay in pairs for one to three days for mating. After mating, the female is pregnant for about seven months, and generally gives birth in the spring. After about three months, the lamb is weaned and becomes mature at about eighteen to twenty-one months. Sometimes, Grysboks will share communal feeding grounds, but the males are often territorial, marking their territory with urine, feces, and the scent from their preorbital glands, which lie just in front of the eyes. The males will also fight with their horns in defense of their territory. However, when a Grysbok encounters what it believes to be real danger, it will flee and hide. If the aggressor continues to follow the Grysbok, it will run in an erratic z-shaped way that is difficult to follow.

There is one peculiar thing about the Cape Grysbok, and that is its diet. Although it is mainly a browser, it will eat flowers and fruit when they are available. Because of this, the Cape Grysbok doesn’t need to drink water, as it derives all that is needed from the vegetation that it eats. However, it will still drink water when it can find it. Unfortunately, this antelope considered a pest in the Western Cape because of its tendency to eat the grapes out of vineyards. Despite this, the Cape Grysbok is considered to be of “least concern” to the IUCN, or the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The only true problem it faces is habit loss. The Cape Grysbok has a very dispersed habitat, but it always lives in areas with lots of vegetation because of its dietary and safety needs. It is commonly associated with the fynbos biome, which has tall bushes and other, thinner plants. The fynbos biome is commonly found in the Western and Eastern areas of the Cape region of South Africa. The Cape Grysbok is losing its territory for one reason: other species. Humans are constantly expanding and taking land from animals and the Grysbok is certainly not exempt. In addition to this, this creature is losing its terrain to elephants. In the Addos Elephant Park of the Eastern Cape region, the namesake animals have destroyed much of the vegetation the Cape Grysbok depends on. Despite this, it is still in good shape and will be for some time.