Center of distribution is the southwestern African rainforest and the wetter regions of the southern savanna. Specifically Gambia to S.W. Ethiopia, south to Angola, Namibia, N.W. Botswana. (Estes, 1991; Honacki et al., 1982)

Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )

The Sitatunga, a swamp-dwelling antelope, exhibits great elongation of the hooves, which have a wide splay and naked padlike pattern. They possess unique flexibility of the joints at the feet, representing structural adaptations for walking on boggy and marshy ground.

Coloration varies geographically and individually. Males are gray-brown to chocolate-brown, females are brown to bright chestnut, and calves are bright rufous-red, woolly coated, spotted, and striped. Adults are long coated and have characteristic whiteish marks on the face, ears, cheeks, body, legs, and feet.

Males are considerably larger than females (100 cm tall vs. 75-90 cm tall). Males possess horns ranging in length from 508-924 mm. Horns are characterized by two twists and are ivory tipped.

Range mass: 50 to 125 kg.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: male larger; sexes colored or patterned differently

• Terrestrial
• Freshwater

The sitatunga is semiaquatic, and so specialized that it occurs only in swamps or permanent marshes. Partial to papyrus and phragmites within swamps, it may also occur in wetlands dominated by bullrushes, reeds, and sedges. They frequent the deepest parts of the swamp. (Estes, 1991; Nowak, 1991)

Aquatic Biomes: lakes and ponds

Alchornea cordifolia, common around Lake Victoria, provides a favorite browse for sitatunga. Foraging takes place in both dry land and swamp. Sitatunga select plants in the flowering stage. They often emerge at night from swamplands to graze on nearby dry land, as well as in adjacent forests where they browse on foliage and creepers. Feeding activity is apt to be concentrated in a small area of swamp for many days at a time, then they suddenly shift to new grounds. Sitatunga feed while immersed up to their shoulders and move slowly through the vegetation. Sometimes forelegs may be immersed while hind legs are elevated. They may rear to reach flowers of tall reeds, sedges, grasses and foliage, and males have been known to break branches with their horns. When feeding on long leaves, a sitatunga wraps its tongue around a clump, pulls it into its mouth, and crops it with its incisors. (Estes, 1991; Kingdon, 1974)

Average lifespan

Status: captivity: 22.6 years.

Breeding occurs throughout the year, males are polygynous, and females produce a single young at an average interval of 11.6 months. The mean gestation period is 247 days, and sexual maturity is attained at approximately 1 yr. by females and 1.5 yrs. by males.

A male approaches a female in a low stretch posture while the female may back away slowly. When the male comes within a few inches of the female, she may suddenly bound away, causing considerable commotion in the swamp. The male persistently follows, but always stays behind. It is characteristic of this species that the male lay his head and neck on the female's back and lifts his forelegs off the ground in a mounting attempt. The female responds with neck winding, in which her neck angles down obliquely and her head turns sharply up, thrusting forward, upward and back with mouth wide open. The male then mounts with his head resting on her back, and her head and neck point forward and down.

Females hide their calves on platforms in secluded dry reeds growing in deep water. Calves are unable to move slowly and deliberately through the swamp like adults, and follow their mothers closely for several months only after learning how. A mother feeds near the calf's hiding spot, finishes, and walks up to the calf. It licks the young's snout, then moves away. The calf gets up and follows the mother, and she leads it to a protected place where it can suckle. (Estes, 1991; Nowak, 1991)

Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Range gestation period: 7.5 to 8.6 months.

Average gestation period: 8.23 months.

Average birth mass: 4000 g.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

Sex: female: 401 days.

Parental Investment: altricial ; precocial ; post-independence association with parents

Lions and wild dogs prey on sitatungas, and leopards catch some that venture into riverine forest. Sitatungas are vulnerable to snare-trappers due to their use of regular pathways. They may also be driven by beaters into nets or into deep water where spearmen in boats easily dispatch them. (Estes, 1991; Honacki et al., 1982)

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: appendix iii; no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

None

Snare trappers value Sitatunga as a food source, but they are also appreciated for their skins.

Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material