Lechwe

Red lechwe (Kobus leche leche) in the Okavango Delta

The lechwe (Kobus leche) is an antelope of the genus waterbuck. Other spellings are lechwe ( as in English ) or lychee.

Exterior Features

This antelope is medium in size with a shoulder height of one meter, her back falls obliquely from the hindquarters to the shoulders from. Only the male wears long, heavily ringed, lyre- shaped horns. Reference to the drawing a number of sub-species can be distinguished. When the Red Lechwe the shining chestnut brown the top comes into contrast with the white underside. Striking black stripes cover the front legs. The males can reach a weight of 118 kg, the females of 80 kg.

Dissemination

The lechwe has only a small distribution area in Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and southern Congo. It is bound to flood plains and seasonally flooded marshes like the Okavango Basin. In shallow water they feed almost exclusively on marsh grasses.

Behavior

Males are territorial, but their areas are very small because of the high population density and measure only 15 to 200 meters in diameter. The competition is extreme, and few males can keep their territory for more than a few days. Females form herds, which may include up to a thousand animals.

Endangering

Due to hunting and habitat destruction of lechwe has become rarer. At best it's the Red lechwe (K. l leche), of which there are 30,000 copies in the Okavango Delta and is also common in other parts of Botswana and Angola. The Kafue lechwe - (K. l kafuensis ) lives in Zambia along the Kafue River, approximately in Lochinvar National Park. By poaching his stock of 100,000 has halved to 50,000 animals. The construction of the dam on the Kafue Itezhitezhi has greatly contributed by the now relatively constant water level in the Kafue floodplains and the regular reasons of pastoralism flooding for the conservation of the stock. The Kafue Dam is indifferent on this issue, as their dam is located in a ravine and flooded no floodplain. The Black lechwe (K. l smithemani ) lives in the Bangweulusümpfen to the Bangweulusee in Zambia; by the draining of large parts of these marshes stocks of 250,000 (1930 ) have fallen to 30,000 animals. The IUCN classifies the black lechwe and the Kafue lechwe - considered "at risk " one. Overall, the species is considered " not at risk ".

Extinct is the Roberts lechwe (K. l robertsi ), who was once along the rivers Luongo and Luena (also in Zambia) spread.

Since the 1980s, no specimen of this subspecies was seen more.