New Generation of Lesser Kudu at Zoo Basel

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New Generation of Lesser Kudu at Zoo Basel

November 21, 2016

The Lesser Kudu herd at Zoo Basel welcomed a new calf. The young male was born October 29 to mom, Cony.

Keepers report that the little Kudu, named Namib, was standing within an hour of birth. Mom and calf have been bonding in the safety and warmth of their barn. Mom’s wild instinct is to keep her calf hidden from danger in a sheltered place, and the zoo’s barn allows her to act on these inclinations. After a few days, when the young calf is strong enough, mom will lead him to join the rest of the herd.

Photo Credits: Zoo Basel

The Lesser Kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis) is a species of African spiral-horned antelope. Male Lesser Kudu horns can grow to be 72 cm, with 2 ½ twists. In the wild, they live in dry, densely thicketed scrub and woodlands of northern east Africa. Interestingly, they rarely drink water, apparently getting enough liquid from the plants that they eat.

The Lesser Kudu is native to Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, but it is extinct in Djibouti. The total population has been estimated to be nearly 118,000, with a decreasing trend. One-third of the population survives in protected areas. The species is currently classified as “Near Threatened” by IUCN.

In Europe around 80 Lesser Kudus live in only 14 zoos. In the Basel Zoo, there are currently six individuals: one adult male, four females, and the new male calf.

4 responses to “New Generation of Lesser Kudu at Zoo Basel”

isa

November 21, 2016

Lovely! Proud of our “Zolli”

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Michael

November 23, 2016

“Male Lesser Kudu horns can grow to be 72 inches long” — I bet you meant 72 cm. When I read that, I thought “How can an animal with 6 foot long horns be the lesser anything? How big must the GREATER kudu be?” so I looked it up. This is just from Wikipedia, but it MIGHT be right! “The spiral horns are 50–70 cm (20–28 in) long …”

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Andrew Bleiman

November 23, 2016

Yes..thank you! Typographical error–corrected to “72 cm”. According to another source, arkive.org, the males horns can reach up to 95 cm.

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Michael

November 27, 2016

It took me a long time to think of this, but — how do they know? When the encyclopedia says how much a tiger weighs or how long a Cape buffalo is or, in this case, how long a Lesser Kudu’s horns can get, how can they tell? Is it based entirely on captive animals, measured while sedated for medical checkups in zoos? Is it based on samples found in museums (which would work for skeletal features but not, say, weight). Is it photo analysis of animals in the wild (in which case it’s a guess)? All of the above, one time or another? The one thing is is NOT is asking a wild tiger to step on the scale or a wild Kudu to hold still while a researcher measures its horns. So, 70, 72, 95 — I take my hat off to whoever came up with those numbers, however they did it, and even if there’s some uncertainty.

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