Bontebok

Bontebok
(Latin = Damaliscus dorcas dorcas, Afrikaans = Bontebok, German = Buntbock)

(Latin = Damaliscus dorcas dorcas, Afrikaans = Bontebok, German = Buntbock)

Numbers: Low
Weight: 50 - 64 kg (110 - 141 lb.)
Shoulder height: 90 cm (36 in.)
Females horns: Yes

Found only in a southern part of the Western Cape. This is a downright beautiful antelope with his very rich purple-black and brown skin contrasting sharply with the cleanest of white feet, rump, tail base and face. This once almost extinct antelope of South Africa is now somewhat safer in numbers, although still not found in abundance. It is of much the same family tree as the blesbok (and could interbreed successfully with it, although prohibited by law). Why the Bontebok had choose to ‚isolate itself‚ from the Blesbok (many, many centuries earlier) and reside in the Western Cape only, is an unanswered question, but the resemblance with the Blesbok is obvious. And yet, the Bontebok has it's own distinct identity and is smaller than the Blesbok.