Trivia question for Sep-04-2011

Olivia read about these guys and thought that the way they act was too cool so she made them her trivia of the day.   These guys travel with great speed and endurance; capable of running at top speeds of up to 43-MPH.  These guys form some of the largest migratory antelope herds with numbers over 2,000.

These guys an extensive geographical range with a patchy distribution. This is due to specialization for certain grasslands in arid and savanna biomes. Human hunting and habitat destruction have further isolated their population. While these guys are still numerous and widespread, it has been eliminated from large areas of its former range by hunting, and habitat degradation associated with the encroachment/expansion of cattle. These threats have been most marked on the West African Korrigum; of the 12 countries in which they formerly occurred, they are now extirpated from four, and probably only occur as vagrants in three. More than 90% of these animals occur in protected areas.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us what type of antelope this is and why they avoid Hyparrhemia grass?  Also, males of this species always kneel during sparring or fighting, tell us why they do this?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Fredrick Hamilton from Scottsdale AZ for being the first with the correct answer.  The antelope we featured is known as the Topi.  Topi and Korrigum are antelope species. The vernacular name “Topi” applies not only to the species but also to two subspecies D. k. jimela and D. k. topi, while the name Korrigum or Tiang applies to the subspecies D. k. korrigum.

When grazing, these guys stay away from Hyparrhemia grass because its sharp seeds can damage the topi’s eyes.  All male topis kneel during sparring or fighting.  They slide forward and backward with incredible ease and are less likely to be hurt if pushed sideways.  Here is more on these tough antelope: Topi

Thanks for playing along 😉