Antelope of the Thickets

Explanation: Picking our way through the shrubs and tangles of tropical east Africa, we suddenly spy this diminutive antelope standing statue-still. This is a Kirk's dik-dik, known for its habit of never straying far from dense vegetation cover.

Kirk's dik-diks are one of a suite of "dwarf antelope" species
found in central, easter, and southeastern Africa.

Kirk's are known for their grizzled or salt-and-pepper
gray pelage with yellowing tints,
white bordering the eye, and the ear lining,
and small snout.

Kirk's dik-diks may actually consist of a complex of four species, although IUCN still recognizes the forms as just the one species Madoqua kirkii, which has few threats and the populations of which are of "least concern" for conservation.

However, should the species be split out, the need will arise to re-evaluate threats, population size and trend, and conservation status for each individual species.

All photos above in this episode are from Masai Mara, Kenya,
and Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, where this antelope may be
placed into the separate species Madoqua thomasi.

Above, this male (note the horns) is exhibiting a territorial
hunch-backed posture as a dominance display.

As shown above, male Kirk's dik-diks have
spiraled horns up to 10 cm (4 inches) long.

They typically occur in pairs, as shown here.
That, plus their affinity for dense cover, are likely
adaptations to best keep an eye & ear out for predators
and to be able to evade their attacks.

Predators include jackals, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs,
and even eagles and caracals.

Young fawns sometimes are taken by
pythons and baboons.

So this is typically how you will see one -- standing
motionless, in thickets, until you move
and it bounds away to vanish into the bush.

And, as the photo below shows, mostly you
would not want to chase it through the
dense spines of Acacias and other plants!

Information:
Estes, R. D. 1999. The safari companion: a guide to watching African mammals. Chelsea Green Publishing Co., White River Junction, VT. 459 pp.
Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals. Academic Press, San Diego. 464 pp.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week