Ask an Artiodactyl Antelope About the Answers Quiz

Answer:

The Antelopes

Hartebeest

The hartebeest is a large, oddly shaped antelope with a long, narrow face and high horns that look like a pair of crooked brackets. They live across the open savannas, grasslands, and dry woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa. They are incredibly fast runners that move in a zigzag pattern to confuse their primary predators, which include lions, leopards, cheetahs, and African wild dogs.


Blackbuck

The blackbuck is a striking antelope native to the grassy plains, open woodlands, and semi-desert areas of India and Nepal, where the adult males turn a beautiful, dark black color that contrasts with their bright white bellies and grow long, spiral horns that look like giant corkscrews. They are agile jumpers that can spring high into the air to signal danger to their herd whenever they are targeted by their main predators, which include leopards, and feral dogs!


Bongo

The bongo is a large, heavy antelope with a beautiful chestnut-red coat covered in bright white vertical stripes and twisting horns. They live hidden away in the dense tropical rainforests and thick jungles of Central and West Africa. Because they spend their lives in deep forest shadows, their main natural predator is the leopard, though lions and spotted hyenas will occasionally hunt them if they venture too near the forest edges.


Nilgai

The nilgai is the largest antelope in Asia. It has a muscular build with high shoulders and a sloped back. They are widely found roaming across the dry forests, hills, and agricultural fields of India and Pakistan. Adult males develop a unique blue-gray coat that earns them the nickname "blue bull," and they must constantly stay alert to avoid their main predators, which include Bengal tigers, Asiatic lions, and leopards. Though not usually dangerous to the adults, packs of Indian wolves and dholes (wild dogs) frequently hunt their younger calves.


Gerenuk

Often called the "giraffe-gazelle" due to its incredibly long, skinny neck and pencil-thin legs, the gerenuk lives in the dry, thorny brushlands and desert scrubs of East Africa in countries like Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. They can stand all the way up on their hind legs to eat leaves from high tree branches, but this unique feeding posture makes them incredibly easy to spot for their main predators, which include the usual suspects from the big cat family as well as hyenas, and jackals.


Klipspringer

The klipspringer is a tiny, sturdy antelope whose name means "rock jumper" in Dutch, and they live exclusively on rocky cliffs, steep mountains, and giant stone outcrops throughout Eastern and Southern Africa. They feature specialized, rubbery hooves that allow them to balance on tiny stone ledges without slipping, which helps them stay out of reach from most ground animals, though they are still actively hunted by agile climbing predators like leopards and caracals, as well as giant martial eagles that swoop down to knock them off the cliffs. This is REAL, go YouTube it, crazy!


Suni

Standing only about 12 to 15 inches (30.5 to 38.1 cm) tall at the shoulder, the suni is one of the smallest antelopes in the world and lives hidden away in the dense, shaded undergrowth and thick dry forests of Southeastern Africa in countries like South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. They are incredibly secretive and get all of their moisture from eating fallen leaves, but because they are so tiny, they are heavily targeted by an enormous range of predators, including leopards, caracals, wild cats, pythons, jackals, martial eagles, and even large baboons.


Oribi

The oribi is a slender, graceful antelope with a beautiful yellowish-tan coat and a short, black-tipped tail, and they live in pairs across the vast open grasslands, savannas, and floodplains of Sub-Saharan Africa. When they sense danger in the open grass, they emit a loud, shrill whistle to warn their neighbors before bouncing away in high, vertical leaps to escape from their main predators, which include lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dogs, crocodiles, and large birds of prey that hunt their young.


Impala

The impala is a medium-sized antelope with a sleek, reddish-brown coat that thrives in the vast savannas and light woodlands of Eastern and Southern Africa. They are capable of leaping over 30 feet (9.1 meters) long and 10 feet (3.0 meters) high to confuse attackers, which is a necessary skill since they are the favorite menu item for almost every major African carnivore and are heavily preyed upon by everything!


Lechwe

The lechwe is a water-loving antelope that lives in the wetlands, permanent swamps, and seasonal floodplains of Zambia, Botswana, and Angola, specifically around the Okavango Delta. They have long, splayed hooves covered in a water-repellent substance that keeps them from sinking into deep, sticky mud, which allows them to easily run into deep water to escape from land predators, though they must always look out for crocodiles waiting in the water.


Duiker

The duiker is a small, forest-dwelling antelope whose name means "diver" because they instantly dive into thick bushes whenever they hear a scary noise, and they live in the deep rainforests and dense bushlands across Sub-Saharan Africa. They have a unique, arched body and short front legs that allow them to easily duck under low-hanging branches, helping them hide from their main predators, which include leopards, pythons, and giant crowned eagles that glide through the forest canopy - Now if only fish and amphibians ate them, they could fear nearly the entire chordata class.


Chinkara

Also known as the Indian gazelle, the chinkara is a shy, lightweight antelope that lives in the arid plains, sand dunes, deserts, and dry scrub forests of India, Pakistan, and Iran. They are master water-savers who can survive for months just by licking the morning dew off of desert plants, and when they get nervous, they stamp their front hooves and let out a strange sneezing sound to alert their friends to the presence of their predators.

Rhebok

The rhebok is an American shoe company, prominently featured on Nickelodeon's "Double Dare" in the 1980s....wait, wrong rhebok... It's actually a woolly antelope with a thick gray coat that protects it from freezing temperatures and straight, needle-sharp horns, and they live strictly in the high, chilly mountain grasslands and rocky plateaus of South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini. Dominant males will aggressively defend their hillside pastures from rivals using their sharp horns, but the entire herd must work together to spot and avoid their main mountain predators. And yes, the shoe was named after this antelope.


Sitatunga

The sitatunga is a highly unusual, semi-aquatic antelope with an oily, water-resistant coat and long hooves. They live in the permanent swamps, dense papyrus marshes, and wetlands of Central and East Africa. They are fantastic swimmers and will submerge their entire bodies underwater, leaving only their nose exposed, to completely hide from danger, which is their primary defense against their main natural predator, the leopard. However, crocs and pythons also find them delicious...nowhere to go.

Eland

The giant eland is the absolute heavyweight champion of the antelope world weighing up to 2,000 pounds (907 kg) and standing over 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall. They travel in nomadic herds across the open plains, savannas, and woodlands of East and Southern Africa. Despite looking like a massive, slow-moving cow, they could easily jump over an 8-foot (2.4-meter) tall fence from a standing position. Because the a healthy adult male is just eff off massive, only the strongest predators, primarily prides, yep prides(!), of lions and large packs of hyenas or African wild dogs, even deign to try them.


The not-the-Antelopes

Oingo

If you go out into the African savanna searching for a majestic wild "Oingo," the only thing you are going to find is a 1980s new wave rock band called Oingo Boingo. There is absolutely no animal on Earth with this name, unless someone decided to name their pet hamster something ridiculous. That said, a wild Danny Elfman is dangerous when cornered.


Krugerrand

A Krugerrand is definitely valuable, but you cannot breed them because they are made of solid gold. It is a famous South African bullion coin that was first minted in 1967 to help market the country's massive gold supply to investors around the world. The back of the coin does feature an engraving of a leaping springbok, which is a real antelope.


Guernsey

A Guernsey is a classic example of an animal that belongs in a peaceful pasture eating clover rather than sprinting away from lions on a tropical safari. It is a world-famous breed of dairy cattle that originally comes from a tiny British island in the English Channel, known for producing incredibly rich, golden-colored milk. While they are technically distant cousins to antelopes in the giant mammal family tree - heck, so are we. However, a Guernsey is a slow, heavy cow that would look incredibly out of place trying to leap thirty feet through the air over a cheetah.


Pronghorn

The pronghorn was the distractor on this list because millions of people colloquially call it the "American antelope," but science says they are lying. Living out on the wide-open prairies of North America, it is the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere, running at highway speeds that could leave a real antelope in the dust. When i say Highway speeds, I ain't kidding. These little guys top out at 55-60 mph (88-96 kmph), just a bit slower than the 68-75 mph (96-120 kmph) a cheetah can post, and remember a cheetah has MAYBE 2-3 seconds (3.71e+43-5.565e+43 Planck seconds) at top speeds, pronghorns can maintain for 30 seconds(10 septillion jiffies) and then downshift to run at 35mph(56kmph) for 4 miles (6.43738km) or more.

DNA testing has proved that they belong to an entirely separate, unique animal family, and their closest living relatives on Earth are actually giraffes and okapis.


Botha

If you see a "Botha" wandering around South Africa, do not throw a spear at it because you will be attacking a human being. Botha is one of the most common Afrikaans family surnames in the country, historically belonging to famous rugby players, actors, and political leaders like former Prime Minister Pik Botha. While some Bothas may be rugged, tough creatures you might encounter in the bush, they still can't jump very high.