The brown lechwe Kobus leche cafuensis
The brown lechwe is an African antelope belonging to the genus Kobus. It is a medium-sized antelope standing at about one meter at the shoulders. Its body slopes down from the rump to the shoulders. Strongly spiralled, lyre-shaped horns are borne only by the males. An average weight of the males is 118 kg, females weigh about 80 kg. This subspecies is distributed through Botswana, Namibia, Angola and Zambia, where its populations inhabit shallow water margins of floodplains, rivers, swamps, and reed thickets. Lechwes are semi-aquatic animals and often feed on aquatic plants, standing knee-deep in water. Their soft hooves are not adapted to walking on hard ground. Lechwes are good swimmers, which retreat to the water to escape predators. They live in small groups but sometimes form large herds consisting of up to one thousand animals. During high floods, lechwes move ahead of the water, finding retreat in the boarders between water and grasslands. Constant roaming does not allow the lechwes to establish large home territories but during the breeding season, breeding areas known as leks are formed, whith 20 to 200 males protecting both their small home territories (15 to 20 m in diameter) and a large herd of females that gather in the leks. Because of aggressive competition in some of the small central home territories some males can not hold them for longer than a few days. Breeding season lasts about 2.5 months, with a peak in the beginning of rain season. Gestation period is from 7 to 8 months long and most calves are born between middle July and middle September. The female gives birth to her calves in a dry, protected shelter and the young remain concealed for 2 or 3 weeks. Mothers suckle their calves both early and late in the day during 5 to 6 months. Once the young stop hiding, they form groups of up to 50 animals. Young females reach sexual maturity by the age of 1.5 years, while young males are able to breed after they are five years old.
