Blesbok
- Class: Mammals (Mammalia)
- Order: Even-toed ungulates
- Family: Bovids (Bovidae)
- Genus: Damaliscus
- Species: Damaliscus pygargus
- SubGenus: D. p. phillipsi
Size
The blesbok weighs between 80 and 135kg.
Ecology
The blesbok is active during the day, but to avoid the most intense midday heat it seeks shaded areas to rest.
Blesbok live in territorial herds. Females and calves stay together in social groups, and territorial males combine with these herds during the rut. Single males mark their territory by defecating onto dung heaps at its extents.
Food habits
Blesbok predominantly graze on grasses, but also on other herbal vegetation.
Longevity
The blesbok may reach more than 15 years of age.
Reproduction
The female usually gives birth to a single calf after a gestation period of 8 months. Unlike other antelopes, the female does not leave the herd when giving birth.
Conservation status
The blesbok was once one of the most abundant antelope species of the South African plains. It became extinct in the wild after gradually diminishing in numbers due to hunting since the 1890s. Due to the great efforts of private farmers in retaining and breeding specimens of blesbok, it has been successfully re-introduced into game reserves and farms in the South African Republic, where it is now commercially farmed as livestock.
The blesbok is closely related to the bontebok, and although historically the distributions of these species did not overlap, interbreeding has been recorded on lands where both subspecies are now located.
