Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii)

Sitatungas may be active during both day and night, but are most active at dawn and dusk (2). A swamp provides a year-round supply of rich food, and sitatungas therefore require only very small home ranges, often using regular, tunnelled pathways through tall reeds and papyrus (4). However, individuals will also sometimes leave the swamp at night, when they are more hidden from predators, to graze at the edge of nearby forests (4). The diet consists of bullrushes, sedges and the leaves of bushes in the swamps, as well as grass in adjacent riverine forests, although fallen fruit and the bark of some trees and bushes are also eaten (4). Sitatungas are usually seen ranging alone or in small, all-female groups (2), although pairs associate for short periods of time for mating and, occasionally, small, temporary mixed groups are formed (4). Breeding occurs throughout the year, with single offspring being usual, after a gestation period of 240 to 250 days (5). Young are born on a dry, trampled mat in the swamp, where they lie in concealment for as long as a month, with only short suckling visits from their mother (2) (4). Nursing lasts from four to six months, but the ties between mother and young do not last long after that, with sub-adults often seen on their own (4). Sexual maturity is reached at one to two years for females, two to two and a half for males, and the life span is up to 19 years (2).

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