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Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

author:Animal Hunting Society

In the African savannah where beasts are infested, the survival of herbivores is not easy, and without some real skills, they will soon be hunted and killed. However, the "ability" of different herbivores is different, such as elephants and rhinos rely on their huge size, which makes many carnivores prohibitive, and the pronghorn antelope relies on a speed of up to 97 kilometers per hour, which makes many carnivores unreachable.

The highhorned antelope has neither the speed nor the huge size of the pronghorn, but it is one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah. Let's find out together.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

What is a highhorn antelope?

In the African savannah, the largest number of herbivore groups is bovines, and worldwide, bovines are also the dominant group among herbivores, they not only have a wide distribution, but also a large population.

Every year before the dry season, herbivores on Tanzania's Serengeti savannah gather to form millions of migratory teams, and the largest proportion of this team is one of the bovine animals, wildebeest (also known as wildebeest), which numbers more than one million.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

Although the wildebeest is the most abundant herbivore in Africa, this one should be added at most, because the number of highhorn antelopes is comparable to that of wildebeests, as early as 2008, according to a data survey, there are more than 2 million highhorn antelopes in Africa, although more than a decade later, their numbers have declined due to habitat loss and destruction, but the number is still more than 1 million.

The highhorned antelope is also a member of the bovine family, but it is a distant relative of the wildebeest, because the wildebeest is an animal under the bovine family Apicalinae, which means that fundamentally the wildebeest is not a horse, but a large antelope, and the highhorned antelope is an animal under the highhorn antelope subfamily, and the difference between the two is similar to that of cats and tigers.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

The highhorn antelope is widely distributed in eastern and southern Africa, and it has two subspecies differentiation: highhorn and Angolan black-faced highhorn, of which the Angolan black-faced highhorn is larger than the highhorn antelope, with an average body length of 1.3 meters and an average weight of 70 kilograms, and the biggest difference between it and the highhorn antelope is that there is a dark stripe on both sides of the facial nose.

However, the Angolan black-faced highhorn is only distributed near the Kunai River in southwest Africa, and the population is very rare, only about 1,000, so the highhorn antelope we see in some African wildlife documentaries is usually a common highhorn antelope.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

Black-faced highhorn antelope

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

Common highhorn antelope

The name of the highhorned antelope comes from the fact that males have horns similar to harps, but females do not have horns, and this bow-like horn structure is very important for males, because they, like most social animals, compete for mate rights through male duels, and sharp horn tips have strong lethality, and the bow-like structure can be firmly fixed with the opponent's horns in the fight, which is convenient for the stronger party to throw the other party out, and can also protect the skull (starting from the skull outward and upward, and then bending it).

The average body length of the highhorn antelope (common subspecies) is about 1.2 meters, and the average weight is about 65 kg (male body size data, females are much smaller, the average weight is about 45 kg), they have a reddish-brown back, the sides are yellow-brown, the abdomen is white, and the rump has two clear black vertical stripes, which is highly recognizable.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

As an animal living in the African savannah, the highhorn antelope is also plagued by parasites, and there are a variety of ticks and lice parasitizing on its skin, so one of the most common postures of the highhorn antelope is to gnaw its own body, which is actually a way to remove parasites by combing their hair with their teeth.

Of course, there are also places that the highhorn antelope cannot reach, such as the back, hip, behind the ears, etc., these parts are usually given to the oxpecker, and studies have shown that the cowpecker likes to move near the highhorn antelope the most, and the two belong to a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

The highhorned antelope that is best at escaping

As a medium-sized herbivore, the highhorn antelope has many natural enemies in the African savannah, in addition to African wild dogs and spotted hyenas, their biggest natural enemies are lions, leopards and cheetahs.

The first is distribution and habits

Highhorn antelope has many natural enemies, but also has millions of people, obviously have their uniqueness, and their wild distribution and habits are very critical, first of all, the habitat of the highhorn antelope is not a prairie with many beasts, but a forest and a sparse forest and the savannah, this distribution is very beneficial to survival, because leopards, lions, spotted hyenas and other animals are used to hunting in open areas, and the forest is conducive to highhorn antelopes to avoid hunting.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

The second is the habit, in Africa carnivores are either nocturnal, living a day and night life, or morning and dusk, that is, active at dawn and evening, and the intelligent highhorn antelope chooses an activity period that can almost avoid most predators, that is, noon in the hot sun, because they live in the sparse forest, so under the trees can both shade the sun, forage, and avoid predators, can be described as killing three birds with one stone.

Therefore, with its special distribution and habits, the highhorned antelope has won many herbivores.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

The second is superb ability to escape

Although the habits of the highhorn antelope have allowed it to avoid many predators, but the nocturnal and morning dusk of carnivores is not fixed, but most of the time, when hungry, even during the day or the scorching sun they must go out to hunt, so the highhorn antelope will still be threatened by predators, therefore, the highhorn antelope also has a strong ability to escape.

First of all, highhorn antelopes have slender and muscular limbs, which allows them to burst out at an average speed of 80 kilometers per hour and a maximum speed of 90 kilometers per hour, which is already beyond the reach of many animals.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

Secondly, the running method of the highhorn antelope is also very fancy, the highhorn antelope runs in two ways: one is a horizontal jump, this jumping method can jump up to 3 meters, the horizontal displacement distance can reach 10 meters, relying on this jumping method, the highhorn antelope can jump over the bushes when chased by extremely fast animals, and even sightseeing vehicles to escape.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

The other is a continuous jump, this jumping method is the front hooves landing on the ground every time, the back hooves kick back, this posture can kick the predator away, and this jumping method can freely change direction, let the predator pounce.

With these two jumps, the high horned antelope has a much higher success rate in avoiding predators than other animals.

Why did the highhorned antelope become one of the most escapeous herbivores in the African savannah?

At last

Highhorned antelope is one of the most common herbivores on the African savannah, as an antelope, although it is not as large as the horned antelope, and it is not as fast as the Tang's gazelle, but it is the most escape-capable antelope, which is related to their habits on the one hand, on the one hand, and their superb escape skills, so even if the lions want to hunt the highhorned antelope, they have to pursue it from behind, the method of ambush in front, otherwise the failure rate is extremely high.

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