Petersducker
| Petersducker | ||||||||||||
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_from_behind,_Campo_Maan_National_Park.jpg)
A Petersducker in the Campo Ma'an National Park in Cameroon. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cephalophus callipygus | ||||||||||||
| Peters , 1876 |
The Petersducker ( Cephalophus callipygus ), also called Harvey or Schönsteißducker , is a small antelope that occurs in the Central African equatorial forest zone in a wide strip from Cameroon and Gabon to western Kenya .
features
The Petersducker reaches a head-trunk length of 90 to 115 cm, a height at the withers of 45 to 60 cm and a weight of 12 to 23 kg. Its tail is 10 to 16.5 cm long, the same horns in males and females 5.5 to 13.8 cm. The fur is light to dark red-brown, with the animals being darker at the back than at the front. Throat and chest are red, the chest has a dark median stripe. The forehead is brown-red to black, the forehead well developed and red-brown. The cheeks are red to gray-red, the lips and chin white. The outside of the ears are reddish brown to dark brown, their insides are white. The legs are the same color as the trunk and become increasingly darker, sometimes almost black, towards the hooves. The tail has an end tassel that is white on the underside. Inguinal glands are present, the dewclaws are small. The horns are short and thick, curved upwards at the tip, oval in cross-section and heavily fluted at the base.
The fawns are darker than the adults and have a dark vertical stripe across the chest and stomach. The lightening that occurs with adulthood runs from back to front.
Way of life
The Petersducker lives in all types of forest, also in dense grass stands in the savannah , preferably near water. He is diurnal and polygynous . The territory of an animal is about 0.4 km², the daily migration is 2 to 4 km. Rest areas that have been used are no longer visited. The Petersducker feeds mainly on fruits, which in the animals examined near Makokou (Gabon) made up 83% of the total diet (16% were leaves). Those with a diameter of 1 to 3 cm are preferred. A total of 55 plant species are known on which the Petersducker feeds, including the annona family , balsam tree family and nutmeg family .
Mating takes place all year round, but more often from May to June and December, the respective beginning of the dry season, when the quantity and quality of the ripe fruits is highest. The gestation period is estimated to be 240 days, but is not exactly known. Usually a young is born that weighs around 3 kg. Young peter duikers consume significantly more leaves as food than adult animals during the suckling phase.
Threat and protection
The population is estimated at 382,000 animals. The Petersducker occurs locally in dense populations. However, it is also heavily hunted, in the Central African Republic 29% of all trapped animals represent St. Peter's Duckers. Although the species seems to regenerate its populations frequently, continued hunting could lead to drastic declines. At the moment the IUCN classifies the Petersducker as least concern (“not endangered”).
literature
- Theodor Haltorth , Helmut Diller: Mammals of Africa and Madagascar (= BLV -bestungsbuch. Vol. 19). BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-405-11392-X .
- Jonathan Kingdon: The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals. A & C Black Publishers Ltd., London 2004, ISBN 0-7136-6981-0 .
- Colin P. Groves , David M. Leslie Jr .: Family Bovidae (Hollow-horned Ruminants). In: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , p. 766.
- Cephalophus callipygus inthe IUCN 2012 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
