Damaliscus pygargus (Pallas 1767)

Bontesbok and blesbok share an adult color pattern where the relatively dark dorsal pelage contrasts sharply with high, white stockings and buttocks. Bontebok have a dark and glossy, purplish-brown dorsal pelage, while blesbok dorsal pelage is a dull, reddish-brown. Blesbok also have dark fur on their rumps, while bontebok have a white patch surrounding the tail. Calves are born with lighter brown pelage and dark faces and are identical to the young of topi (Damaliscus lunatus). Both sexes of both subspecies develop large and curving, gazelle-like horns Their short tail is tufted with black fur. Head and body length ranges from 140 to 160 cm, tail length from 30 to 45 cm. Males are typically larger than females, with female body mass ranging from 55 to 70 kg, and male body mass ranging from 65 to 80 kg. Bontebok average 8kg lighter than blesbok, which helps to distinguish the two.

Range mass: 55 to 80 kg.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: male larger; ornamentation

Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 23 (high) years.

Bontebok and blesbok are found in South African grasslands.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland

Damaliscus pygargus occurs in southern Africa. There are two physically distinct and well-recognized subspecies: bontebok (D. p. pygargus) are found in the highveld and coastal plains of South Africa, blesbok (D. p. phillipsi) are found in eastern and central South Africa. Bontebok populations are more or less confined to protected areas in South Africa.

Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )

The name 'bontebok' is derived from the Afrikaans word, bont--meaning brightly colored. This refers to the bontebok's rich glossy chestnut brown color. 'Blesbok' is derived from the Afrikaans word for white mark on the face, 'bles'.

Damaliscus pygargus was previously known as Damaliscus dorcas. D. pygargus pygargus is the bontebok, D. pygargus phillipsi is the blesbok.

Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical

After their extinction was threatened by excess hunting and the encroachment of agriculture the Bontebok National Park was established in 1931. At that time, only 17 bontebok existed in the wild. Now bontebok are extinct as wild animals and are currently raised on game farms. In recent years, the bontebok population has recovered to 2000+ members living on various reservations throughout South Africa. Blesbok were also seriously threatened by overhunting in the 19th century, reducing very large populations to approximately 2000 individuals. Populations have recovered, however, and now seem stable. Both bontebok (D. p. pygargus) and blesbok (D. p. phillipsi) are considered vulnerable by the IUCN and bontebok are on the CITES Appendix II list.

US Federal List: endangered

CITES: appendix ii; no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Blesbok are important as a stock animal. Both blesbok and bontebok are important game animals and provide opportunities for tourism in South Africa.

Positive Impacts: food

Bontebok and blesbok are herbivores, they graze on grasses and herbage. Blesbok eat primarily red oat grass (Themeda), but also eat grasses in the genera Eragrostis and Chloromelas. Bontebok eat primarily grasses in the genera Bromus and Danthonia, however bontebok also feed on Eragrostis.

(Kingdon 1997)

Bontebok mate in February, while blesbok peak mating occurs in April. Gestation period for both is eight months. Young are born from August to mid-December. Usually a single young is birthed in a high grass area and within 2 hours after birth the young can be mobile. D. pygargus can live up to 17 years.

Range number of offspring: 1 (low) .

Average number of offspring: 1.

Range gestation period: 8 (high) months.

Average gestation period: 8 months.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous

Average birth mass: 6792 g.

Average number of offspring: 1.2.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 707 days.

Parental Investment: altricial ; extended period of juvenile learning

Both the bontebok and blesbok are grazing antelopes that spend their day feeding on short grass. They are less active during the hotter midday hours and routinely stand in groups facing the sun, frequently nodding their lowered heads (4). Bontebok adult males defend territories all year round (5), marking them with dung and urine (2), and chasing away any intruding males from large bachelor herds of young males that roam at will (5). Small nursery herds of two to eight females and their young commonly remain with the same territorial male all year round, which is an interesting feature of bontebok territoriality (6). The territorial males encourage any passing females to stay by carrying out a special sexual display (5). Blesboks have a similar social structure to the bontebok, with a few noticeable differences. Nursery herds are generally larger, consisting of up to 25 females (2), and adult males do not maintain their territories during winter and spring. During this cold, dry season very large mixed-age groups of up to 650 animals may be formed. In order to conserve energy during this period of scarce food, there is little activity of any kind (5). Bonteboks mate between January and March (5), with lambs being born from September to October (4), while blesbok mating peaks in April (2), and most lambs are born from November to January (4). Both subspecies have an eight month gestation period and their young are up and mobile within an hour or two of birth. Females mature in about two years and can live for up to 17 years (2)

While the bontebok and blesbok sadly no longer roam wild in South Africa, the species' survival is now much more secure (2), although somewhat dependent on the continued existence of the farms and game reserves on which they occur. Both subspecies also occur in protected areas (1); one of which was created in 1931 to protect the last 30 bontebok left in the wild, the Bontebok National Park, South Africa (7).

There are two very distinct subspecies of this handsome African antelope, the bontebok (D. p. pygargus) and the blesbok (D. p. phillipsi), both of which are extinct as wild animals and owe their survival to their existence in National Parks, game reserves, and on farms. Their body is compact with a short neck and long narrow face (2), and both sexes carry simple, lyre-shaped horns, although the female's are more slender (4). The beautiful bontebok, perhaps the rarest antelope in southern Africa (5), has a rich brown coat with a purplish gloss, and a distinctive white face, white buttocks, white belly and white 'socks' (2). The white facial blaze is usually unbroken which distinguishes it from the blesbok, whose white blaze is normally broken by a brown band between the eyes (4). The blesbok also differs by having a dull reddish-brown coat, which lacks the purple gloss, with lighter brown buttocks and off-white lower legs (2).

The bontebok inhabits coastal grass plains with fynbos vegetation, whereas the blesbok inhabits open grasslands of southern African highveld (1) (2).

Historically, the bontebok was restricted to the coastal plain of the southwestern Cape, South Africa (1), between Bot River (near Hermanus) in the west and Mossel Bay in the east (6), but it is now restricted to the Bontebok National Park and a few reserves and private farms within that same area. The largest single population occurs in De Hoop Nature Reserve near Bredasdorp (4). Formerly, the blesbok occurred on the highveld of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho (1), but due to hunting they were exterminated from Swaziland and Lesotho before 1900, and by the late 19th century, populations in South Africa were also reduced (5). Since then, numbers have recovered on farms and game reserves and they have been introduced to areas far beyond their natural range, (Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe) (1), but they are only found on enclosed land (4).

Classified as Lower Risk / Conservation Dependent (LR/cd) on the IUCN Red List 2007. Subspecies Damaliscus pygargus pygargus (bontebok) is classified as Vulnerable (VU) and Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi (blesbok) is classified as Least Concern (LC) (1). Subspecies D. p. pygargus is also listed on Appendix II of CITES (3).

Hunting for their meat and skins has bought both these subspecies close to the brink of extinction in the past. Bontebok numbers were severely reduced by the 1830s, but luckily farmers in the Bredasdorp area had the foresight to enclose the remaining wild bontebok on their land, saving this subspecies from extinction (5). Blesbok, which were hunted in their thousands, were also saved by protection on farms and game reserves (5). While hunting and trade of both subspecies still occurs, this is believed to be strictly controlled and so no longer a threat (1). Today, the main threat is hybridisation between the bontebok and blesbok (1), which, while this does not threaten the existence of the species, could result in the loss of these distinct and unique subspecies.

The bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus) is an antelope found in South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia. D. pygargus has two subspecies; the nominate subspecies (D. p. pygargus), occurring naturally in the Fynbos and Renosterveld areas of the Western Cape, and the blesbok (D. p. phillipsi) occurring in the Highveld.

The bontebok is related to the common tsessebe.