Kudu
| Common name | Scientific name | Average weight of adult male | Average length or shoulder height | Diet | How do they live | Feeding time | Gestation period | Number of young at birth |
| Kudu | Tragelaphus strepsiceros | 230 kg | 1,5 m | herbivorous browser | herds | day/night | 7 months | single calf |
One of our most beautiful antelopes and a prized trophy that every hunter wish to obtain. They keep to thick bushland and mountainous terrain. Very elusive and could be very difficult to hunt because they could stand so still that you could pass within a few meters without even knowing that they are there. They have excellent eyesight and hearing and sometimes when startled make a harsh "bark-like" sound.
Kudu always browse upwind, because the trees they feed on can give chemical signals to the other trees nearby to increase the production of a chemical similar to that used in the tanning of hides in their leaves. This then render their food indigestible. For this reason you'll find that when to many kudu's are kept on a small area that they'll actually starve even if there are many trees around. They are also very sensitive to drought and loose weight fast during dry periods.
They form breeding herds of cows and calves and young bulls up to two and a half years of age. These breeding herds are territorial. The dominant bulls in the area would drive young bulls of about three years from these breeding herds and they would then form bachelor herds. The old and dominant bulls are either solitary animals or they would join these bachelor herds. The main calving period is from about late December to March. The cows break away from the breeding herd and hide their calves for two to three months before rejoining the herd. Fighting amongst the big bulls are quite common during rut that occurs during June and July.
They are excellent jumpers and can clear a fence with no effort at all. For this reason you'll see that our national road sign to warn against wild animals next to the roads is a silhouette of a kudu. Many a motorist have had accidents already caused by kudu's.