羚羊吃什麼？

常用名稱：小羚, 迪克小羚羊,Dik-dik

學名：
Madoqua kirki (or Rhynchotragus kirki) = Kirk's dik-dik /喀氏小羚

簡介：
Dik-dik 這個名字真改得好，因為牠們真是很「的式」的。洋人當然不會用廣東俗語來為這小動物命名。Dik-dik 的名稱來自小羚遇到危險時發出的 "zik ... zik" 的聲音。牠們很害羞膽小。

食物：
樹葉、根、果實。

棲地：樹叢、灌木叢。

壽命：12 年

繁殖：懷孕期六個月，通常是單胎。小羚出生後母親會把牠藏起來。


生存威脅：牠們那麼嬌小的身形，自然引起各方食肉動物的垂涎。不過當食物充足時，獅子這類「大胃王」也不屑去吃這一兩口便吃完的小羚羊。


常用名稱： 大羚羊, 伊蘭羚羊 (Cape Eland)

學名： Taurotragus oryx

棲地： 草原。

食物： 樹葉，有時也會吃果實。

常用名稱：水羚,Waterbuck

學名：Kobus defassa (Defassa waterbuck)
Kobus ellipsiprymnus (Common waterbuck)

簡介：我覺得水羚是一種很帥的羚羊，之前我對水羚沒有太大留意，但這次 safari 我對牠卻有一點特別感覺，因為牠是我在 safari 中第一種看見的野生動物。
成年雄性水羚頭頂長有一對角，雌性則沒有。牠們身體的油性分泌可減少水份流失，但據說亦使牠們身體帶有異味。Defassa waterbuck 和另一種水羚 Common waterbuck 很相像，除了 Serengeti 外，坦桑尼亞看到的多是 Common waterbuck。水羚是群體動物，族群一般從五到廿五頭左右，但也可更多。族群由一頭雄性帶領，首領會驅逐闖入牠領土範圍的其他雄性水羚。顧名思義，水羚的生活和水是分不開的。牠們生活在附近有水源的草地、林地和濕地，並不會加入東非草原的動物大遷徙。

壽命：12 - 14 年。

棲地：水羚多生活在附近有水源的草地、林地和濕地。

食物：草。

繁殖：通常只有一胎，懷孕期約 280日。小水羚會被母親獨自留在隱蔽的草叢，但仍然很容易成為人家的食物。

生存威脅：獅子是最主要的捕食者，但花豹 (leopard)、鬣狗 (hyaena)、非洲野狗 (African wild dog) 等食肉動物也會襲擊牠們。

Unlike carnivores and primates, Antelopes have not been noted for high intelligence. This is partly because as herbivores, their food cannot run away meaning they don't have to be quick-thinking and resourceful to track it down. In most open habitats, Antelopes run a high risk of predation. They use several kinds of defensive strategy to survive which includesv living in herds. Living in herds, there are many eyes are ears to keep watch for danger. Herd living also gives indivudual antelopes a chance to get away as the predator has many targets to choose from. When danger threatens, antelopes behave in an assortment of characteristic ways. Many species, especially the gazelle, walk toward hostile enemies, such as lions or cheetahs, when they are first seen. Though this behaviour sounds reckless, it actually warns the herd of impending danger and allows them to asses the threat at hand. If the incoming animals are non-hostile, the gazelles of the herd keep them under constant survelliance, ready to run at any time.

The decision to begin fleeing is largely based on the type of predator and its distance from the herd. Usually, gazelles will permit lions to come 200 m (650 ft) within before fleeing. This is because they instinctively know that a hunting lion prefers to stay hidden while stalking its prey, meaning a visible lion is unlikely to attack. Cheetahs, who are superb sprintersm, pose a more dangerous threat. Gazelles will often begin to run when cheetahs are over 800 m (0.5 mi) away.

Antelopes communicate with each other using a varying array of sounds. For example, Dik-diks whistle when alarmed warning other animals of danger which makes dik-diks unpopular with hunters. Generally, sight is a much more form of communication than sound for antelopes. Their mood is indicated by their posture and movement. When excited or alarmed, most medium-sized species of antelopes bounce up in down on all four legs, keeping them stretched out straight. Known as pronking or stotting, this behaviour acts as an alarming display. Some biologists theorize that stotting also gives a message to predators, showing that individual antelopes are fit and alert, therefore not worth pursuing.

Antelopes also use scent signals to communicate and these signals can linger for many days. Antelopes that live in herds have special glands in their hoofs that leave a scented record of their movement, therefore, if an antelope was accidentally seperated from their herd, they would be able to follow the scent tracks back.

Antelope species that live in forests tend to stay in the same place all their lives, but species that live out in the open often migrate to feed and breed. The Gnus carries out the most famous of these migrations living in the plains and open woodlands or eastern and southern Africa. Gnus are sedentary in some places, but in others such as Serengeti National Park, gnus travel between two different home ranges. One of these ranges is used during the dry season while another is used during the wet season. Migration can be very risky, some of these dangers include crossing crocodile-infested rivers, but it supplies the gnus with food at different times of the year.

These animals are spread relatively evenly throughout the various subfamilies of Bovidae and many are more closely related to cows or goats than each other. There are many different species of antelope, ranging in size from the tiny Royal Antelope to the Giant Eland. They typically have a light and elegant figure, slender, graceful limbs, small cloven hoofs, and a short tail. Antelope have powerful hindquarters and when startled they run with a peculiar bounding stride that makes them look as though they are bouncing over the terrain like a giant rabbit. Some species of antelope can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour), making them among the fastest of land animals.

Antelopes differ from eachother almost as much as they differ from other members of the cattle, goat, and sheep family. The common eland towers over most breeds of domestic cattle and can be 300 times heavier than the royal antelope. In many species, the males are usually larger than the females. In several species, such as the Asian black buck, males and females also differ in color.

Antelopes bear a dense coat with short fur. Most antelopes have fawn or brown-colored fur so they can camouflage while eating. Yet there are some exceptions including the rare zebra duiker which has dark vertical stripes, and the gemsbok which has gray and black fur and a vivid black-and-white face. A common feature of the gazelle is a a white rump, which flashes a warning to others when they run from danger. One species of gazelle, the springbok, also has a pouch of white brushlike airs running along its back. When a springbok senses danger, its pouch opens up, and the hairs stand on end.

All antelopes have long, slender legs and powerful muscles where the upper legs meet the antelopes body that provide leverage, increasing leg stride and speed. Though antelopes are good jumpers, they are not good climbers. But a few do display good balance, such as the klipspringer, which stands on the tips of its hooves. The gerenuk, another African species, is one of the few antelopes that habitually stands on its back legs.


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某程度上可說牠什麼都吃, 但主要是吃草同葉