Damaliscus pygargus (Pallas 1767)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Artiodactyla, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 637-722 : 677

Damaliscus pygargus (Pallas 1767)

[Antilope] pygargus Pallas 1767 , Spicil. Zool., 1: 10.

Type Locality: No locality. Since restricted to South Africa, Western Cape Prov., Caledon, Swart River ( Bigalke, 1948).

Vernacular Names: Bontebok.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Damaliscus pygargus subsp. pygargus Pallas 1767

Subspecies Damaliscus pygargus subsp. phillipsi Harper 1939

Distribution: Bontebok sensu stricto (D. p. pygargus ) only in South Africa (Western Cape Prov.); Blesbok (D. p. phillipsi ) formerly in SW Lesotho, South Africa (Northern Cape Prov. E of 23 o E, Eastern Cape Prov., Free State, North-West Prov., Gautung, Mpumalanga, and NW and W KwaZulu-Natal), and Swaziland; now only in captivity, or as reintroduced populations in Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland. Introduced on private land in Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe ( East, 1999).

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II as D. pygargus pygargus ; and U.S. ESA – Endangered as D. pygarus [sic] (= dorcas ) dorcas ; IUCN – Vulnerable as D. p. pygargus, Least Concern as D. p. phillipsi .

Discussion: The name Bontebok usually applies to D. p. pygargus , while D. d. phillipsi is the Blesbok. Includes phillipsi and albifrons ; see Ansell (1972:55). Includes dorcas , a junior secondary homonym; pygargus is the valid name; see Rookmaaker (1991).