Antidorcas Marsupialus

This graceful and strikingly coloured gazelle, adopted as South Africa’s national and sporting emblem.

Both sexes have horns which are lyre-shaped and heavily ridged; the males horns are heavier and longer than the females.

They have good eyesight and are highly gregarious. When moving at speed, they bound into the air with a stifflegged ‘’pronking’’ action, during which the hooves are bunched.

Both browses and grazes. roots, bulbs, and short grass.

Independent of water but will drink regularly when water is available.

Albino and melanistic springbok contrast sharply with the more colourful members of their group.

Springbok

Bontebok

Damaliscus dorcas dorcas

This lovely animal with its white, black and rich brown markings, its white face-blaze and rump and its elegant horns, is perhaps southern africa’s rarest antelope.

Both sexes carry horns but those of the ewe are more slender than those of the ram.

The bontebok was brought perilously close to extinction, but is now protected in private and state reserves.

The bontebok is purely a grazer.

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Eland

Taurotragus oryx

The largest of all the African antelope.

These inoffensive, gregarious, but shy, animals are excellent jumpers.

Both sexes have horns, although those of the females are often longer.

Silent creatures, eland have an acute sense of smell, and good hearing.

Mainly browsers.

A male bull will tip the scale at around 900kg, and reach 1.7m in height at the shoulders.

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Gemsbok

Oryx gazella

A fine looking animal, stately in its bearing, stricking in its black, grey and white markings, dangerous in its needle-sharp horns.

Keeping cool

The animal avoids the heat of the day, lying where there are little or no trees, so positioning itself that the smallest possible area of its body is presented to the sun.

On especially hot days the body temperatures rises above 40 degrees centigrade.

It does not waste precious water by panting.

It can do this without ill effect because a vulnerable part of its brain, the hypothalamus, it protected by a feature known as the carotidrete.

This curious mechanism, consists of a maze of fine blood vessels that together, act as an efficient heat-exchange unit, cooling the blood with moisture from the nasal passage.

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Ostrich

Struthio camelus

Male, largely black-and-white. Female is pale grey with wing feathers dirty white.

Young: head and neck fawn with longitudinal black streaks. The back is hedgehog-like with black-and-white bristles.

They can run at a surprising speed, 70 kilometres an hour.

Food: succulent and other plants, berries and seeds. Hard objects such as pebbles are swallowed to assist in crushing the harder parts of its food.

Breeding: Two or three females accompany a single male, and the females may lay in the same nest, which is a mere hollow scraped in the ground. Nest is constructed by both sexes. The conspicuous black-and-white cocks incubate the eggs at night, the inconspicuous hens during daylight.

Eggs capacity is about equal to two dozen fowl eggs. Incubation: 40 days.

Nests February to November.

The largest living birds of the world, nearly 2,5m tall and 156kg.

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Blue Wildebeest

Connochaetes taurinus

The bulls are highly territorial and stake out specific areas.

They often associate with zebra and, although their sight is not as good as a zebra’z they have keen hearing and sense of smell.

They are grazers, and acquire water daily.

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Zebra

Some of our animals are the original quagga animals, but are no longer used in the project.

Visit there website: www.quaggaproject.org

Fellow Deer

Euoropese Takbok "Fallow Deer" Dama dama dama

Uitheems, lae ekologiese impak, groot ekonomiese potensiaal (45 - 85% produksie). Dit is afkomstig van die Europese vasteland (Mediterreens).

Tans is dit wydverspreid in Suid-Afrika.

In 1869 is 100 takbokke op die grond van die Newslandshuis in Kaapstad aangehou. Hulle is later op 'n privaat plaas naby Somerset-Wes hervestig. In 1897 is 'n verdere groep op die Grootte Schuur-landgoed gevestig. Volgens Chapman & Chapman het takbokke teen 1900 reeds in 32 van die 113 Kaapse distrikte voorgekom. In 1963 is drie bokke vanaf Grootte Schuur na Robbeneiland verplaas wat teen 1977 reeds tot 40 aangeteel het.

Die takbok het 'n kleiner diefstalrisiko as vee en meer as dubbel die produksietempo van inheemse wild. Dit is meer siektebestand as vee.

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Porcupine

Hystrix africaeastralis

Birds

A feather of Barn owl – Nonnetjie uil

Egyptian Goose – Kolgans

Blacksmith Plover - Bontkiewietjie

Blue Crane – Bloukraan

Sacred ibis – Skoorsteenveer

Gymnogene

• White Pelican – Wit pelikaan
• Hadeda
• Spur-winged Goose –Wildemakou
• Fish Eagle – Visarend
• Guinea-fowl – Tarentaal

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