Ammelaphus australis (Heller, 1913)

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Bovidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 444-779 : 613-614

34.

Southern Lesser Kudu

Ammelaphus australis

French: Koudou de Heller / German: Sidlicher Kleinkudu / Spanish: Kudi menor meridional

Taxonomy. Ammelaphus imberbis australis Heller, 1913 ,

Longaya Water, Marsabit, Kenya.

Initially described as a subspecies of A. imberbus, 1t 1s darker (bright tawny ocher) than the type species, with no white spot on front of pasterns, and shorter horns. Recent evaluations of museum specimens of australis by C. P. Groves and P. Grubb show that pelage color differs by locality, horns are actually longer, and there may be more taxonomic variation than hitherto recognized, suggesting the possible need for subspecific designations. Monotypic.

Distribution. Lowlands of S Ethiopia, Somalia, extreme SE Sudan, extreme NE Uganda, N, C & S Kenya, and E Tanzania.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 150-169 cm,tail 28-43 cm, shoulder height 107-110 cm (these measurements refer to males only; there are no exact measurements available for females). No specific weights are available, but males are about 154% heavier than females. The Southern Lesser Kudu is slender in frontal profile, like the Northern Lesser Kudu (A. ¢mberbis), but it varies more in color, ranging among males and females from bright tawny-ocher to reddish-brown, chocolate brown with gray-white on the neck, or grayish chocolate brown, to predominantly gray. Both sexes have two white spots on the posterior jaw line, a small but defined upper throat patch, and a larger lower neck patch that is widened to a chevron, and often more defined than on the Northern Lesser Kudu. In the Southern Lesser Kudu, the throat spot is occasionally irregular in shape, and more rarely, a third white spot may occur below the regular throat spot. Males have a partial chevron on the nose just below the eyes, and a dorsal crest from the withers, where it is longest, to the tail; the crest is often whitish but can more closely match the coat color. A pale mane is occasionally evident on the back of the lower neck but often absent. There is no throat beard. The tail color matches coat color, seal-brown, black-tipped at the end, and white on the sides and underneath. The number of vertical body stripes on the Southern Lesser Kudu is 7-14 and may not be of equal number on both sides of the body ofa single individual. The stripes of the Southern Lesser Kudu begin further up on the shoulders than the Northern Lesser Kudu’, and they do not typically wrap across the haunch or converge near the front of the knee. The lower legs are tawny-orange, often with a black band on the inner side of the front leg and white areas anteriorlyjust above the hooves on all four legs. Contrary to early claims, male-only horns of the Southern Lesser Kudu are longer and have more spirals (2-5-3 turns) than in the Northern Lesser Kudu (2-2-5 turns). Horn development of young males provides a general means of determining age: horns become visible at about 9-9-5 months of age, reach ear length at about 1-5 years, are twice ear length at 2.5 years, and complete two complete spirals at three years. Dental formula is10/3,C0/1,P 3/3, M 3/3 (x2) = 32. Diploid number of chromosomes is 38, and unlike other tragelaphine antelopes, both the Xand Y-chromosomes are fused with autosomes, suggesting an early evolutionary separation from other tragelaphine taxa.

Habitat. The Southern Lesser Kudu is typically associated with dry Acacia—Commiphora thornbush habitat in north-eastern Africa, but it occurs in dry woodland areas in the western part ofits range. It avoids open grasslands and generally is found below 1200 m, although it has been seen as high as 1740 m on Mount Kilimanjaro, Kenya. In Tsavo National Park, southern Kenya, Southern Lesser Kudus tend to concentrate in riverine areas during the dry season and disperse more widely during the rainy season. Unpredictable rainfall patterns throughout their range result in irregular and often clumped distributions.

Food and Feeding. Herbivorous, selecting a very diverse diet of leaves, fruits, and flowers of predominantly shrubs and trees. In Tsavo National Park, Southern Lesser Kudus eat more than 150 plant species, including spiny succulents that no doubt help meet their water requirements. Diets change seasonally, with a pronounced dependence on evergreen trees and shrubs during the dry season. Leaves of trees and small and large shrubs made up 80-8-97-1% of the dry season diets in three habitat types in Tsavo; vines, grasses, herbs, and fruits became more important during the rainy season, when they were 25-3-34:6% of the diets. In Tsavo, kudus show a preference for Euphorbia schefferi, Salvadora persica, and species of Calyptrotheca. Grasses are eaten but very selectively during the rainy season when growth is new and succulent; Panicum deustem is favored in Tsavo. Southern Lesser Kudus will drink when standing water is available, but they are not dependent on it.

Breeding. In most locations, breeding and births take place throughout the year. The breeding behavior of the Southern Lesser Kudu follows the pattern typical of the tragelaphine antelope group, but is less intense. Direct observations are difficult to make, however, in the dense vegetation that lesser kudus inhabit. Aggressive interactions between mature males are rare, and they tend to avoid one another despite their non-exclusive home ranges. Mature males spar by pushing and twisting with their horns laid together lengthwise and the spirals engaged—Iikely a means to assess each other’s strength. Males occasionally lock horns so tightly that they eventually die. Mature males are more aggressive toward young males by displaying a bristling dorsal crest and tail, lateral presentation, and a stiff-legged gait and horning vegetation. Fake attacks and short chases may follow. A male offspring remains with its motherfor 1-5-2 years,lives variably with other young males for the next 2-3 years, and then becomes predominantly solitary when mature. Unless drawn to an abundant food resource, mature males only associate with females during breeding. Males check females for estrus as they encounter them, approaching in a low-stretch display, sniffing the genitals, urine testing, and rubbing the female’s hindquarters with their cheeks. If the female is receptive, the male draws alongside of her, rubbing his cheek along her body, whining and seemingly gasping for breath. The female may poke or head-butt the male from her head-low posture. Prior to copulation, the male rests his head on the female’s rump. Females can breed when they are about 1-5 years old. The estrous cycle is 21-22 days in captivity. A single offspring is born after a gestation of about 7-5-8 months. Wild neonates in Tsavo National Park were 4.1-7. 5 kg at birth. Mothers hid their young for a couple of weeks, visiting them only to nurse; young may nurse for up to eight minutes per bout in their first month. Weaning occurs at about six months. Birth intervals of captive and wild individuals are as short as 8-10 months under good forage conditions. In Tsavo, about 50% of young die in their first six months oflife, 60% in thefirst year, and 75% do not live past three years of age; higher mortality rates of males were evident. Maximum longevity in the wild is probably about 8-10 years; two captive females lived just over 18 years and near 20 years in captivity.

Activity patterns. Woodlands and shrub thickets are important for cover during hot, dry weather and for protection from threats. As with other ruminants, alternating patterns of feeding and resting/ruminating typify the daily activities of lesser kudus. Southern Lesser Kudus are active primarily in the early morning and evening; extensive night-time activity is likely. About 34% of daylight hours are spent feeding, 36% spent resting/ruminating, and 28% engaged in moving and other activities. Feeding by Southern Lesser Kudus in Tsavo National Park was most common in the morning from 06:15 h to 10:00 h, with resting/ruminating, usually in a standing position, in dense woodland thickets from 11:00 h to 13:00 h. A second feeding peak occurred from 16:00 h to 18:00 h. Selfgrooming occurred throughout the day but was most prevalent in the late afternoon.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Southern Lesser Kudus are sedentary and, unless prompted by disturbance such as fire, typically remain in the same small areas of preferred habitat year after year. Disturbances can cause displacement of up to 5-6 km. In Tsavo National Park, groups may move about 0-5 km/day between foraging areas. Home ranges of males (mean, 2-2 km*) and females (1-8 km?) are small but comparable, ranging from 0-4 km?® to 6-7 km*. Young males tend to have the largest home ranges. In most places, overall densities of the Southern Lesser Kudu are low compared to other tragelaphines: 0-02-0-18 ind/km?® in Tsavo and 0-01-0-29 ind/km?* in Tarangire Game Reserve, Tanzania. Densities are higher in preferred shrubby habitat and generally increase with increasing density of woody cover; the highest densities of 1-3 ind/km” in Tsavo were calculated from counts of known individuals. The Southern Lesser Kudu is gregarious, but typically occurs in small longlasting groups of 2—4 females and their offspring; no clear dominance hierarchy appears to occur among females. Mature males older than about 4-5 years of age mainly occur alone and tend to avoid each other. Aggregations of ten or more individuals are sometimes seen, but not often. Groups of females and young occasionally engage in “running games” where individuals vigorously rush about, bound over bushes, and dodge each other. Lesser kudus are excellent jumpers and can leap over bushes and other obstacles 2-2-5 m high with ease. When groups met at areas of abundant forage in Tsavo, no aggressive interactions were noted; rather, they showed signs of excitement such as jumping, running around, and mutual grooming (purported to be more common among captive individuals). When alarmed, all kudus emit a sharp bark. In the mixed ungulate community in Tsavo, Southern Lesser Kudus infrequently associate with other species unless some abundant resource such as fallen fruits draws them together.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List (under-Tragelaphus); it does not differentiate the two species of lesser kudu identified here. In the late 1990s, the number of lesser kudus range-wide was estimated at about 118,000, with 30% of them in protected areas. Now, populations are decreasing, with the prospect of their status changing to Vulnerable in the future. Notable populations of the Southern Lesser Kudu occur in Omo and Mago National Parks (southern Ethiopia), Tsavo National Park ( Kenya), and Ruaha National Park and associated game reserves ( Tanzania). The Southern Lesser Kudu is the more abundant and widespread of the two lesser kudu species, but both are threatened by human encroachment and associated habitat modifications (dryland and subsistence farming), excessive cattle grazing, disease transmission from cattle (rinderpest has been particularly hard on lesser kudus), and poaching. Kudus may be less affected by poaching than other species because of their protective habitat preferences and activity patterns, cryptic coloration, tendency to freeze in dense cover, and small group size. Highly valued as a hunting trophy, properly managed populations can bring needed revenue to conservation efforts. The Southern Lesser Kudu is represented in zoos throughout the world, but their numbers are not high (e.g. only 28 individuals in North America in 1987).

Bibliography. Benirschke et al. (1980), Borner (1985), Bro-Jorgensen (2008), East (1999), Estes (1991a, 199b), Grimshaw et al. (1995), Groves & Grubb (2011), Huffman (2004p), IUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008bg), Kingdon (1982), Kock et al. (1999), Lamprey (1963, 1964), Leuthold (1971, 1974, 1977, 1978a, 1979), Leuthold & Leuthold (1975a, 1975b 1976), Mitchell (1977), Nowak (1999), Read et al. (1990), Vahala (1992), Walther (1964, 1990c), Weigl (2005).

Figures

On following pages: 35. Cape Kudu (Strepsiceros strepsiceros); 36. Zambezi Kudu (Strepsiceros zambesiensis); 37. Northern Kudu (Strepsiceros chora); 38. Western Kudu (Strepsiceros cotton); 39. Common Eland (Taurotragus oryx); 40. Giant Eland (Taurotragus derbianus).

Distribution. Lowlands of S Ethiopia , Somalia , extreme SE Sudan , extreme NE Uganda , N, C & S Kenya , and E Tanzania .