Red Lechwe

Kobus Leche

General Description

Scientific Name: Kobus Leche

Subspecies:

Red Lechwe (K. l. leche)
Black Lechwe (K. l. smithemani)
Kafue Lechwe (K. l. kafuensis)
Robert's Lechwe (K. l. robertsi)
Upemba Lechwe (K. l. anselli)
Cape Lechwe (K. l. venterae) Extinct

Other Names: Gnu, or just Wildebeest

Status: Near Threatened (decreasing)

Population Estimate: 158,750

Population in Assessed Areas: 230

Diet: Herbivore - grazer

Male Size: 87-128 Kgs

Female Size: 62-97 Kgs

Trophy Size: 66.04 cm minimum

Generation Length: 6.4 years

Reproductive Season: Year Round

Time of Activity: Diurnal/ semi-nocturnal

Description: Males are typically larger and weigh more than females. Males are usually around 87 - 128 kg and 99 - 111 cm tall (shoulder height), while females are generally around 62 - 97 kg and 90 - 106 cm tall (shoulder height).

Only males bear horns. These are long, spiralled, and lyre-shaped. They reach between 50 and 80 cm when fully grown. Rowland Ward’s minimal trophy size is usually reached at 6 years old.

Red lechwe have a reddish brown pelage with white undersides. The front of their forelegs are black, and the fur around the eyes and beneath the muzzle are white. Their fur is relatively thick, measuring between 50 and 74 mm in length. Red lechwe hindquarters are noticeably higher than their forequarters, and their hooves are elongated as an adaptation to their marshy habitats

Ecology: The preferred habitat for red lechwe is wetland. They often inhabit the shallow waters of seasonal floodplains, floodplain grasslands, swamps, water-meadows, termitaria grasslands, and light woodlands. They may sometimes inhabit the reed beds around deep-water swamps, occasionally swimming across these deep-water areas, but they prefer shallower water. Red lechwe avoid dense thickets and grassy areas where other animals have been grazing. Red lechwe are rarely found further than 2 km from a water source.

Red lechwe are grazers whose diet consists of floodplain and aquatic grasses found in their marshy habitats. Red lechwe prefer tall (80 - 150 cm), sweet grasses. Common grasses eaten by red lechwe include red grass (Themeda triandra) and finger grass (Digitaria sanguinalis).

Common predators include leopards (Panthera pardus), lions (Panthera leo), African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), and Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus)

Behavior: Red Lechwe are mostly diurnal, spending large amounts of time in open wetlands, often in herds of thousands, where the whole herd can stay on the look out for predators. As soon as predators are detected, they will rush to deeper waters, where their proportionately long back legs allows them to leap through deep marshes faster than lions, wild dogs, leopards, or any predator chasing them down. As such, they are also adept swimmers, being able to hop between marshy islands to reach optimal grazing spots.

Reproduction: Lechwe mate during rain seasons of November to February. They have a gestation period of seven to eight months so a majority of calves are born from July to September. Though it is very rare, instances of Waterbuck hybridization has been recorded in parts of Botswana, where these two species overlap. This results in an animal that is slightly smaller than a waterbuck, with lechwe like horns, and faint black socks against a light grew, waterbuck like coat. In captivity such hybrids have been recorded as well, since the two species are closely related.

Conservation Analysis

Current & Historic range: Red lechwe is discontinuously distributed across wetlands in Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and the south-eastern regions of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The five subspecies’ current ranges are as follows (East, 1999; Jeffery & Nefdt, 2013):

Red Lechwe (K. l. lechwe) is found in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Angola
- Botswana: Okavango Delta, Kwando/Linyanti/Chobe in northern Botswana
- Namibia: Okavango Delta, Kwando/Linyanti/Chobe, Mashi, Zambezi River in north-east Namibia
- Zambia: Zambezi River, Kafue
- Angola: Cuando system in south-east Angola, Cuanza River, Luando River
Black Lechwe (K. I. smithemani) is found in Zambia in the southern half of the Bangweulu Swamps
Kafue Lechwe (K. l. kafuensis) is found in Zambia in Kafue
Upemba Lechwe (K. l. anselli) is found in DRC in the Upemba wetlands, Kamalondo depression, and Katanga Province
Robert’s Lechwe (K. l. robertsi) is extinct.

The historical distribution of red lechwe is similar to the current distribution, except it has contracted over the last 100 years (East, 1999; Jeffery & Nefdt, 2013). Of note, the Black Lechwe (K. I. smithemani) used to inhabit the Chambeshi and Luapula floodplains between Zambia and DRC, and Robert’s Lechwe (K. l. robertsi) used to inhabit regions of Zambia (East, 1999; Jeffery & Nefdt, 201).

Map of Red Lechwe Distribution

Current & Historic Populations: The current total population estimate for red lechwe is around 158,750 individuals, with 80,000 Red Lechwe (Jeffery & Nefdt, 2013), 49,036 Black Lechwe (IUCN, 2016), 28,711 Kafue Lechwe (Shanungu et al. 2015), and 1,000 Upemba Lechwe (IUCN, 2016). This is likely to be an overestimate. The overall population trend is decreasing for the Red Lechwe, Kafue Lechwe, and possibly the Upemba Lechwe, and stable/increasing for the Black Lechwe (East, 1999; Jeffery & Nefdt, 2013).

In 1999, East estimated a total of 212,000 individuals, including 98,000 Red Lechwe, 78,000 Kafue Lechwe, and 36,000 Black Lechwe. This shows a 25% decrease in total population estimate between 1999 and 2016.

Threats to Species Survival: Red lechwe population declines are attributed to poaching, droughts caused by human influence on waterflow, and livestock development. A significant proportion of red lechwe inhabit unprotected areas. The western end of the Bangweulu Swamps, where poaching is most intense, show a dramatic population decrease of Black Lechwe (East, 1999), and Upemba Lechwe declines are also attributed to commercial hunting (Cotterill, 2005).

The construction of hydroelectric dams in the 1970s has left the Kafue floodplains largely under human regulation, and disruption to the natural flow of water has been significant in red lechwe population declines. Additionally, the Kafue area is also home to much livestock and human settlement attributed to red lechwe population declines.

Recommended Conservation Actions:

Protect and manage remaining red lechwe populations, specifically Red Lechwe (Okavango, Busanga, Linyanti, and Caprivi), Black Lechwe (Bangweulu), Kafue Lechwe (Kafue), and Upemba Lechwe (Upemba National Park).
Implement harvest and trade management strategies such as catch limits and controls on red lechwe hunting.
Re-introduce red lechwe to areas where they formerly occurred.
Monitor and enforce poaching laws at a national level to reduce poaching influence on red lechwe.

Economic & Cultral Analysis

Ecotourism Value: Moderate-High

Hunting Value: High

Meat Value: High

Average Trophy Value: $2,000 USD

Meat Yield per Animal: 30-60 kg

Economic Value/Impacts: Red lechwe are a very valuable species to ecotourism operations across their natural range, especially in marshland areas where they can number in their many thousands. Often, they are one of the most common species sighted on game drives in these habitats.

They have also become increasingly valuable to international hunters, both in their native range, and in parts of their introduced range in South Africa and Namibia. Their lyre shaped horns, bright red coat and black markings around the face and legs make this species a desirable trophy, with purposeful stocking of this species being common on high fenced properties.

Cultural Value: Red Lechwe have likely been hunted by humans and our ancestors for millions of years, and due to moderate size, historical abundance, and palatable taste, would have likely been a staple to many communities. This would have been particularly important for indigenous people living in and around the Okavango Delta and Zambezi River Delta.

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