The African Uganda kob is the official National animal of the Republic of Uganda. A Uganda kob appears on the Coat of arm of Uganda, along with a Grey Crowned crane, representing the abundant wildlife present in the Republic of Uganda.
The Uganda kob is the family of antelope which is similar in appearance to the Impala, but the two species are not related. The Uganda kob generally is reddish-brown, but other subspecies range from light brown to almost black. The underside of the body is white, a white ring appears around each eye, and a white patch or chevron appears on the throat, a black stripe runs down the front of each foreleg. Horns occur only in males and though lyre-shaped, they are shorter, thicker and ringed almost to the tip.
The Distribution of Uganda kob and their habitat in East Africa, this subspecies is a native to East Africa and it occurs in South Sudan, to the West of the Nile, Uganda and the North- eastern Democratic Republic of Cong. Its range used to extend into northwestern Tanzania, where it grazed the grasslands margining Lake Victoria and into Southwestern Kenya but it has been extirpated from these countries.
The Uganda Kob is herbivores and they feed on largely on grasses and reeds as their deity. The female and the young males form loose groups of varying size which range according to food availability, often moving from place to place along watercourses and grazing in valley bottoms. One group in South Sudan was recorded as travelling up to 200km during dry season. Sometimes non-breeding males form their own groups. Females become sexually mature in their 13 months, but males do not start breeding until they are 18 months of age.
The weight of a male Uganda kob, is heavier than female, males weighs up to 90kg while the female’s weighs up to 60kg this means the males are bigger than females
The Gestation period of Uganda kob is approximately from 7.5 to 9months, typically a single offspring at a time. After birth, the young lie concealed for about 6 to 7 weeks, after which they follow their mothers
The Uganda kob tends to mark their territory boundaries and this is done by the males by whistling.
The Uganda kobs also in order to evade a predator, kobs will leap into the air or seek refuge in water or reed beds to escape from predators.
The biggest threat to the Ugandan kobs is hunting. Their habit of lying out in open grassland makes them an accessible target for poachers, even though 97% of the present population is found in national park and other protected areas hunting continues even there.
Mirama hills safari as a company welcomes you to the pearl of Africa Uganda to explore the Uganda kob, Uganda’s national animal representing the abundance of wildlife in the country Uganda.
