Uganda Kob
The beauty of wildlife attractions in Uganda appeals much to eyes of many people. Uganda Kob is a great animal that everyone would not miss to look at because of its colour, size and shape. The Uganda Kob is generally reddish brown in colour and the underside of the body is white, a white ring appears around each eye and a white patch or chevron appears on the throat, a black stripe runs down the front of each foreleg. Horns occur only in males and through lyre-shaped, they are shorter, thicker and ringed almost to the tip.
Interesting facts about Uganda Kob, the Kob is a medium-sized antelope with a medium brown coat, medium length horns and large ears. In terms of size, the male is about 90-100cm (37-40 in.) weighing about 94kg while the female is about 82-92cm (32-36 in.) weighing about 63kg. They mostly feed on tender green grass and mostly live in moist savannas, flood plains and margins of adjacent woodlands. Kobs becomes sexually mature between 13 to 18 months but a male will not be active in the breeding ground until he is 3 to 4 years old when is strong enough to vie for a territory. The females have a gestation period of about 7.5 – 9 months, typical a single offspring a time. After birth, the young one lie concealed for about 6 week and then starts following the mother. The male kobs make territory boundaries by whistling, kob breeds year-round with an 8-month gestation and one off-spring. For protection, the kobs leap into air or seek refuge in water or reed beds especially in times of danger.
Kobs are ecologically restricted preferring low-lying flats or gently rolling free of seasonal extremes and close to permanent water. The social structure of the kob is based on small herds that come together into larger groups of up to 1,000 animals. These large groups will contain 30 to 40 breeding males that hold territories. They establish breeding grounds which they continuously use for at least 50 years. Always establish closely spaced breeding territories where almost all mating takes place called leks, lekking grounds usually located on a knoll near water, roughly circular in shape and from 20 to 100 yards in diameter. Different males occupy these areas throughout the year while females move freely over the general area but at times of heat, they go directly to the breeding grounds to mate.
Three or four of the innermost territories seem to be sought after by the females where activity is intense and the concentrated deposits of hormone-rich urine attracts them rather than a specific male. The holder of a territory is constantly challenged. If he loses his territory either through a fight or by leaving it to glaze or drink, he joins a bachelor herd of males. When he recovers his strength, he will try to regain his territory. The pre and post mating behaviour of kobs is also different from that of other antelopes. A male is not as rough with the female and does not force her to stay within his territory-rather he gently convince her. He makes soft noises during courtship play, repeatedly whistling through his nostrils after mating and the sound crosses the breeding grounds and may be echoed by the other territorial males.
Kobs always associate with larger animals such as hippos, buffalos, topis and hartebeests that help to shorten the grass that the kobs prefer. Kobs develop attachments to particular localities returning to the same grazing areas and watering places day after day or season after season. The young males begin to grow horns at 5 month and by 1 year the horns are as long as the ears.