The Bushbuck is an amazing animal. At a weight of 90 to 180 kilograms and a length of 25 to inches at their shoulder, this animal lives in bushes and places where there is cover. They rarely ever go into the open except for the night time where it is safer than at the night. If you were ever to see a Bushbuck it would be light brown with white spots or stripes. You will always know when you see one because of its light brown fur and white dots and stripes plus their horns like Gazelles.

 

This animal makes a living off of any plant matter. This includes grass, tree bark, fallen berries, and any other plants. The Bushbuck lives in areas where there are any shrubs, bushes, and trees. These are found in any of the rain forests, bush savannas, and forest savannas. There is no accurate estimate for the bushbuck. Nobody has found out how many bushbucks there are. They cannot find out how many there are because they are nocturnal animals. The bushbuck is becoming to be an endangered animal because of people overhunting it for its fur which is easy to make leather out of.

 

Bushbucks are in the lower part of the food web. It is a consumer of plants. Bushbucks compete for food between lots of different animals. One of the main animals they compete with is the Water Buffalo. These Buffalo usually come when there is grass growing. They don't come one by one but they come in packs. The Bushbuck tries to prevent them from eating their food by marking territory with their urine. One of the Bushbucks main threats would be the leopard. Whenever they are being chased by one of the leopards they will keep running until they are out of energy. If a male Bushbuck was to be cornered they would fight ferociously and may even become a foe to the predator.

 

Another enemy that the bushbuck faces is the human. Because their fur is so easy to be made into leather the Bushbuck is being overhunted. Since the Bushbuck needs to protect its self it just stops runs to a covered area where it is virtually impossible to find it. Some interesting things about this animal are that since its hips are formed in a certain way it runs in a galloping way. Also, they can jump over a 6-foot fence because of their strong legs. I learned that if the Bushbuck keeps getting hunted by humans it may become extinct in the next 20 or 10 years. This is an interesting animal and I learned lots about this animal.

 

Author: Tayler O.

Published: 02/2009

 

Sources:http://home.intekom.com/ecotravel/Guides/Wildlife/Vertebrates/Mammals/Large/Bushbuck.htm http://www.outtoafrica.nl/animals/engbushbuck.html?zenden=2&subsoort_id=1&bestemming_id=1 The Concise Animal Encyclopedia

 

Photo Credit: http://www.lets-go-travel.net/images/bushbuck2-12142.jpg