Major Mike | Year of 2017

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Springboks in the Kalahari region of South Africa

To celebrate World Wildlife Day, we offer this image of a herd of springboks, an antelope native to southern savannahs in Africa. This is an all-male ‘bachelor’ herd. The bachelor males team up like this only during mating season. They’ll roam in search of mates, but face fierce competition from males with offspring that belong to co-ed ‘harem’ herds.

The springbok is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in southern and southwestern Africa. The sole member of the genus Antidorcas, this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1780. Three subspecies are identified. A slender, long-legged antelope, the springbok reaches 71 to 86 cm at the shoulder and weighs between 27 and 42 kg. Both sexes have a pair of black, 35-to-50-centimetre long horns that curve backward. The springbok is characterised by a white face, a dark stripe running from the eyes to the mouth, a light brown coat marked by a reddish-brown stripe that runs from the upper foreleg to the buttocks across the flanks, and a white rump flap.
Weight: 8.38 pound (3.80 kg) – 11.02 pound (5 kg) (Newborn) · 72.75 pound (33 kg) – 105.82 pound (48 kg) (Male) · 66.14 pound (30 kg) – 97 pound (44 kg) (Female)
Scientific name: Antidorcas marsupialis
Horn length: 13.78 inch (35 cm) on average
Height: 27.56 inch (70 cm) – 35.43 inch (90 cm)
Gestation period: 168 days
Max speed: 54.68 mph (88 km/h)