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Antelope Herds of Oribi Gorge

Oribi Gorge in South Africa is home to many antelope herds including other animal species such as reedbuck and bushbuch. Antelopes such as steenbok and duikers do not come in huge herds instead they occur in small groups. Its group size increases with the animal’s body size. There are five classes of social organization for antelopes that are determined by their way of life’s ecological aspects. Some species of antelopes in Oribi Gorge have feeding style of finding food that contains high proteins, which is the only food acceptable to them. These antelopes are referred as selective feeders. There are some antelope species that are unselective feeders that can eat more of the plant and tolerate low protein foods. This was studied by biologist Peter Jarman n 1974 who was involved in studies of African antelope varieties.

The first class of antelope herds of Oribi Gorge is called as class A. In this class, antelopes feed on a wide range of plant species but feed very selectively for particular plant parts. Such food items have highest nutritive value. Antelopes belonging in this class are relatively small in sizes. The second class is known as the class B in which antelopes entirely feed selectively on certain grasses. They also selectively feed on parts of browse or browse plants, and foods with high nutritive value.

The third class of antelopes is referred as the class B. They feed on range of browse plants and grasses fairly selectively. Their preference for vegetation type and diet seasonally changes. The fourth class of antelopes is labeled as class D. Antelopes in this class are grazers and are mostly selective for growth stage but unselective for grass species. They usually migrate in different places to find grasses of the right stage. The last and fifth class is called as class E. This class includes antelopes of large-bodied mixed feeders that feed unselectively fairly on a wide range of browse plants and grasses including numerous vegetation types.

Antelopes that are smaller can feed more selectively compared to large-sized antelopes possibly because they have tinier mouths. Broadly speakers, antelopes with increased body size are selective feeders while antelopes with small body size are least selective feeders. Here is a list of antelope species found in Oribi Gorge that belongs to every class:

Class A – suni, steenbok, oribi, klipspringer, red duiker, grey duiker, blue duiker

Class B – grey rhebuck, rooi ribbok, mountain reedbuck, common reedbuck, bushbuck

Class C – waterbuck, springbok, nyala, kudu, impala

Class D – blue wildebeest, black wildebeest, hartebeest, blesbok

Class E – eland, buffalo

Antelopes that are selective feeders should be dispersed widely since their chosen food items are widely dispersed as well, not small, and generally not abundant. During winter season it is normal that plants have low nutritional content, thus it becomes more difficult for antelope selective feeders to obtain food.

The social organization and abundance of antelope herds at Oribi Gorge are influenced by their feeding styles and body size. However, their life span in the wild is difficult to determine. As long as their biological potential allows antelope to sustain their feeding style and culture, they can live beyond 20 years old.