Basically it is an antelope with twisty horns and there are lots of them from the family Tragenlaphinae. They include, in descending size order, bongo, greater kudu, lesser kudu, sitatunga, nyala and bushbuck. Some twisted enthusiasts include the eland but there is a lack of consensus as to this vast creature’s taxonomy. Interesting but irrelevant – the eland, spiral-horned or not, has been farmed for milk.

In southern Africa we find greater kudu, nyala, sitatunga and bushbuck.

Only the bulls have horns except on very rare occasions when females are strangely horned – these are the bearded ladies of the antelope world.

Special mention

The bongo, although not occurring on the sub-continent, deserves a special mention because it the biggest and rarest. The bulls mass up to 400 kgs. It is endangered and only occurs in the tropical rain and alpine forests of central, west and east Africa.

What’s interesting?

A lot of white.

The spiral-horned antelope have white chevrons on their faces, white stripes down their sides and bright white under their tails. The bulls also tend to have white tips to their horns. The reasons for these adaptations are a source of some debate.

As far as the chevrons on the face go, they are probably there to reflect light into the eyes. Most of the spiral-horned antelope live in dimly lit, thick bush. The white chevrons apparently reflect light into their eyes which in turn helps them to see marauding predators.

The white stripes on the flank? These help with camouflage in the dappled light of their habitats. It’s no surprise that species living in the thickest vegetation have the most obvious striping – compare the picture of the nyala which lives in thick riverine vegetation and the kudu which lives in more open woodland areas.

Fluffy white tail? Most features that draw one to look at the back end (think waterbuck ‘targets’ and erect warthog tails), are following mechanisms. When on the run from death at the teeth of a predator, the antelope flick their tails over. This allows their companions, especially if they are young calves, to follow.

The spiral-horned antelope are also known for their loud, low frequency alarm bark that sounds like a mixture between a huge dog and an irate baboon. Apparently a lower frequency sound penetrates more deeply in dense vegetation.

What do they do?

Like most creatures, they eat and breed.

Greater kudu are savannah woodland species and so will not live in desert, forest or grassland. That said, they can live in very dry conditions such as those prevalent in the Karoo or the Kalahari. They tend to live in small groups of up to twenty. The older bulls like to live alone or with a number of young apprentices.

Nyala only occur in the eastern parts of southern Africa, they occupy thicker woodland than do their larger kudu cousins and are probably most at home in riverine vegetation. Mature bulls are shaggy, grey while cows are completely dissimilar chestnut brown.

Bushbuck, which are more solitary than their larger cousins, live in the thickest vegetation. They are also water dependent and need to drink regularly. That said, where the right habitat exists, they occur readily – the bushbuck is the most widely distributed antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sitatungas are adapted entirely for marsh and papyrus. They have specially adapted feet for living in the wet. The two cloves of their hooves can splay wildly which allows them to walk on mud and floating vegetation islands without sinking. You can see these rare and highly specialised animals at Jao Camp, Xigera Camp, Kwetsani Camp and Jacana Camp.