Bontebok

Damaliscus pygargus

General Description

Scientific Name: Damaliscus pygargus

Subspecies: No Subspecies

Status: Vulnerable (Increasing)

Population Estimate: 700-2,500

Population in Assessed Areas: 0

Diet: Herbivore - Browse, Grass & Aquatic Vegitation

Male & Female Size: 50-150 Kgs

Trophy Size: 36 inches minimum

Generation Length: 7.1 years

Reproductive Season: Year Round

Time of Activity: Diurnal

Description: The bontebok is a tall, medium-sized antelope. They typically stand 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 in) high at the shoulder and measure 120 to 210 cm (47 to 83 in) along the head and body. The tail can range from 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in). Body mass can vary from 50 to 155 kg (110 to 342 lb). Males are slightly larger and noticeably heavier than females. The bontebok is a chocolate brown colour, with a white underside and a white stripe from the forehead to the tip of the nose, although there is a brown stripe across the white near the eyes in most blesbok. The bontebok also has a distinctive white patch around its tail (hence the Latin name), while this patch is light brown/tan in the blesbok. The horns of the bontebok are lyre-shaped and clearly ringed. They are found in both sexes and can reach a length of half a meter.

Ecology: Blesbok live in the Highveld, where they eat short grasses, while bontebok are restricted to the coastal Fynbos and the Renosterveld. They are diurnal, though they rest during the heat of the day. Herds contain only males, only females, or are mixed, and usually do not exceed 40 animals for bontebok, though this is likely because of their small remaining population, not because of any actual behavioral limitations.

Behavior: Bontebok, like their cousin the Blesbok, are not good jumpers, but they are very good at crawling under things. Hence, cattle fencing with low wires are often very good at containing populations, which can make them an easy animal to restore on private land. Mature males form territories and face down other males in displays and occasionally fight them.

Predation: Historical predators include African Lions (Panthera Leo) leopards (Panthera pardus), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), lions (Panthera leo), African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), pythons (Boidae), servals (Leptailurus serval), Caracals and Black-backed Jackal.

pair-bontebok-antelopes-damaliscus-pygargus-600nw-198647531.webp

Conservation Analysis

Current & Historic range: The Bontebok is a subspecies endemic to the East Coast Renosterveld bioregion within the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of the Western Cape. It is an important South African conservation success story where a subspecies has been brought back from the brink of extinction in the 1830s by farmers in the Bredasdorp area. It has been benignly introduced to other regions of South Africa, such as the Eastern and Northern cape, and also into areas of the Blesbok's historic range (most notably in the free state.

Current & Historic Populations: Currently (2014), the population estimate within the natural distribution range is 515 mature individuals (using a 75% mature population structure) on formally protected areas (including the Denel Overberg Test Range managed as an ecological unit within De Hoop Nature Reserve).

Due to a lack of natural habitat availability within the natural range, the provincial conservation management authority, CapeNature, allows benign introductions of subpopulations outside of the historical range, in areas geographically adjacent to the natural range and possessing broadly similar habitat. Reintroductions into two such formally protected areas have been in place for at least five years with successful reproduction and these have increased the mature population to 664 individuals. Bontebok also exist on ranch lands and other private properties within the natural and benign introduction range. However, there are known incidences of intensive management and/or hybridization with Blesbok within these subpopulations. Preliminary estimates of privately owned subpopulations nationally, suggest that only 33–39% of these subpopulations can be considered sufficiently wild to be included in this assessment. This adds between 118 and 1,272 individuals (by extrapolating this proportion to the private properties with the most or least abundant subpopulations respectively), which potentially increases the mature population size to between 752 and 1,618 individuals. However, the overall numbers of pure Bontebok within this population range and the intensity of management of these subpopulations are currently unknown.

Map of Bontebok Distribution

*The range of the Bontebok shown in red.

Bontebok Population Data

Threats to Species Survival: The major threats for this subspecies are hybridisation with Blesbok, the lack of available habitat within its natural range (thus limiting population expansion), low genetic diversity, which was probably the result of two bottlenecks caused by overhunting and disease and poor gene flow between subpopulations. Habitat loss is severe and in some cases irreversible. Although the population size of what we hope is pure Bontebok has increased, it has remained relatively low compared to other ruminants. The ultimate threat is the indiscriminate and uncontrolled movement of Blesbok, Bontebok and Blesbok/Bontebok hybrids across the country. As such, the exact status of Bontebok and the long term security of the subspecies is still uncertain. Additionally, there is uncertainty over the impact climate change will have, especially in terms of the synergistic threat of habitat loss.

Recommended Conservation Actions:

Create a "buffer zone" between Blesbok & Bontebok populations to ensure that the two species do not interbreed. In the buffer zone, Hybrids can exist, but inside the natural range of either species, ensure that only pure blood individuals exist.
Increase surveying capabilities of most of it's populations, partnering with the few remaining landowner who host bontebok populations, to ascertain an accurate population count.

Economic & Cultural Analysis

Ecotourism Value: Moderate

Hunting Value: High

Meat Value: Moderate to High

Average Trophy Value: $1,000-1,500 USD

Meat Yield per Animal: 30-40 kg

Economic Value/Impacts: The horns and skins are traded as part of trophy hunts, and live animals are traded at game auctions. Individuals are utilised from captive breeding, ranched (extensive) and wild (formally protected) areas. Activities on private land are mainly for ecotourism, trophy hunting and breeding of trophy animals. As such, the subspecies is widely hunted and traded outside of its natural range where it has increased dramatically in numbers but unfortunately have limited to no conservation value in the short term. In the long term tough, these additional populations could be used to restore the species in it's natural range.

The translocation of Bontebok and Blesbok outside their natural range is a significant threat to the continued existence of the two subspecies, as hybridization takes place and becomes increasingly likely. Additionally, there is a concern that there is a net flow of individuals away from the natural range. Western Cape permit data for the last 10 years show that almost 600 animals have been translocated from the natural range and a further 200 from the benign introduction range. Since hunting is not regulated through direct permitting, the number of hunted Bontebok is unknown. Bontebok is a subspecies listed on Certificates of Adequate Enclosures (CoAEs), which means that harvest/hunt/export is not regulated but exempted from separate applications and consequently there is limited regulatory control of subpopulations on private propertie

Cultural Value: The Blesbok is the regional animal of the western cape, to which it was endemic prior to the arrival of Europeans to South Africa. It was prized by early settlers for it's distinctive skin, who's white patches are much more distinct and pearly white than it's relatives.

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