What do klipspringers eat

Klipspringer have smallish rounded ears positioned far back on the head, and with noticeable dark inner markings. The coarse-haired coat is variable in colour with shades of grey, yellow, brown or red, with marked white underparts, chin and lips. A prominent feature is the large, black pre-orbital gland.

What do Klipspringers eat? The Klipsrpinger diet consists of the selective browsing of flowers, tender green shoots and fruits of a wide variety of shrubs and herbs. The coat is also a significant adaptation that saves the klipspringer during steep falls and provides effective insulation in the extreme climates characteristic of its mountain habitat.

Another feature unique to this animal is its gait; the klipspringer walks on the tips of its cylindrical, blunt hooves. This enhances the grip on the ground, enabling the animal to deftly climb and jump over rocky surfaces. Klipspringers are found across eastern and southern Africa; their range extends from northeastern Sudan, Eritrea, northern Somalia, and Ethiopia in the east to South Africa in the south, and along coastal Angola and Namibia. These antelopes inhabit places with rocky terrain and sparse vegetation and migrate to lowlands at times of food scarcity.

Klipspringers are active mainly at night and tend to be more active on moonlit nights. In the morning they bask in warm sunlight and during midday and at late night they rest. Klipspringers are gregarious animals. Males form territories, in which they stay with their partners and offspring. Partners tend to stay as close as within 5 m 16 ft of each other at most times; for instance, they take turns at keeping a lookout for predators while the other feeds and face any danger together.

Each territory is marked with large dung heaps, nearly 1 m 3 ft 3 in across and 10 cm 4 in deep, at the borders of territories.

Territories can also be marked with the secretion of a thick, black substance from the preorbital glands onto vegetation and rocks in the territories.

Other social groups include small family herds of 8 or more members or solitary individuals. Klipspringers communicate with each other using shrill whistles, given out by the pair in a duet; these whistles may also be used in order to warn about potential predators.

Klipspringers are herbivores folivores, frugivores and prefer young plants, fruits, and flowers. Grasses, eaten mainly in the wet season. Klipspringers are strictly monogamous and mate for life. Their mating season varies geographically. Females give birth to a single calf, weighing slightly more than 1 kg 2 lb after the gestation period that lasts around 6 months. Births usually peak from spring to early summer.

The calf is born in dense vegetation and remains carefully hidden for up to 3 months where it is protected from the view of predators; the mother suckles it 3 to 4 times a day and the visits gradually lengthen as the offspring grows.

Males are protective of their offspring, keeping a watch for other males and predators. The calf is weaned at 4 to 5 months of age and leaves its mother when it turns a year old. Young females become reproductively mature by the time they are one year old; males take slightly longer to mature.

Klipspringers do not face major threats at present, as their habitat is inaccessible and unfavorable for hunting. Moreover, these antelopes do not have to compete with livestock, that do not frequent montane areas. They also have a noticeable black pheromone gland beside their eyes. They have short, black horns with an average length of 9cm 3.

Most subspecies are sexually dimorphic with the males sporting horns and the females lacking them. One population does have horns present on both sexes. At the shoulder the klipspringer stands cm in tall. Males are typically larger than females. An average head to body length is between 75cm and cm 2. The tail adds between 7 and 13cm 3 and 5in to this length. Their weight varies from kg lb. Klipspringers are herbivorous animals. Their diet is made up of grasses, leaves, fruits, herbs, twigs, bark and lichens.

To reach taller foliage they can stand upon their hind legs. As water is scarce in their natural habitat the klipspringer draws most of its water requirements from eating succulent plants.

They will also obtain dew off of plants as well. When free water is available they will make use of it. Africa is the native home of the klipspringer. They make their home in rocky habitats such as mountain sides, kopjes or river gorges. A range of adaptions help them with mountain life such as their hooves. These feature a rubbery centre to help with grip and a tough outer edge which keeps them firmly planted. When food is hard to find they will also migrate to lowlands.

Breeding takes place from August to September in most populations but can vary across their range. Males and females live together year round with their last offspring. Males show dominance by arching the neck and making a low hum.

This is left hidden amongst vegetation or in rocky alcoves where it will remain for the next 3 months. It is visited three to four times a day by its mother who gives it milk.