Overview
As of 2003, we are recording measurements for two different categories of Buffon Kob, because of differences in horn size between specimens from Central Africa and West Africa. The Buffon kob (Central Africa), which is found in C.A.R., southern Chad, northwestern Congo (K), and northern Cameroon, have the larger horns and will continue to have a minimum score of 48. The Buffon kob (West Africa), which is found from Nigeria and southern Niger, westward in the savanna zone to Senegal, has considerably smaller horns and no set minimum score, but rather at Editor's Discretion (E.D.).
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Kobus
- Species
- Kobus kob
Habitat
Restricted primarily to low-lying flats or gently rolling country, free of seasonal extremes and close to permanent water.
Diet
Will browse and graze.
Behavior
In general, kobs occur in small herds of between 5 - 15 female animals with the males spaced apart. When the population density increases up to about 40 animals, they form a breeding arena called a 'lek'. Then hundreds of animals congregate in the area for mating opportunities. After a gestation period of around 8 months, one offspring is born.
Hunting
You can hunt the western kob in Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR) and Cameroon. As mentioned earlier, if you want to enter a record western kob in the SCI book, you will need to have hunted it in Benin, Burkina Faso or southern Cameroon only. If your 'western' kob was taken in CAR or northern Cameroon it is no longer 'western', but a Central African Kob.
Conservation Status
Listed as Vulnerable by IUCN.