EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Topi (Damaliscus lunatus topi or D. korrigum)
Masai Mara Grasslands, southern Kenya

Explanation:  Swift of hoof is this large African antelope, known as a nyamera or topi in local Swahili.  This week we are in the vast Masai Mara grasslands of southern Kenya along the border with Tanzania and conterminous with the Serengeti.  

Topi are striking denizens of the tropical savanna.  They once ranged far more widely but are now restricted to a few national parks and reserves where they continue to flourish.  Their numbers and distribution have declined historically due to hunting and habitat conversion.

They are often considered conspecific with the very similar-appearing tessebe, but some authors consider topi to be a separate species.  The very patchy distribution of topi and tessebe in discontinuous grasslands of central and south Africa suggest that at one point the grasslands were connected.  Today, Tessebes are isolated from topi by miombo woodlands. 

Topi are plains animals and are strictly grazers, favoring tender green young shoots of grass, deftly manipulating around older tougher shoots by use of their long, narrow muzzles and sensitive lips.  

Topi typically live in small territorial herds with 2-10 females, 
or in bachelor herds, but also occur in large migratory numbers.