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Blesbok
The Blesbok or Blesbuck (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi) is an antelope with a distinctive white face and forehead. Its white face is the origin of its name, because bles is the Afrikaans word for blaze. Although it is a close relative of the Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus dorcas) and can interbreed with it, creating an animal known as the Bontebles or Baster Blesbok, it does not have the same habitat. The Blesbok is indigenous to South Africa and is found in large numbers in all national parks with open grasslands, from the Transvaal Highveld, through the Free State veld, to as far south as the Eastern Cape. It is a plains species and dislikes wooded areas. It was first discovered in the 17th-century, in numbers so numerous that herds reached from horizon to horizon.
The neck and the top of the back of the Blesbok is brown. Lower down on the flanks and buttocks, the coloring becomes darker. The blesbok, a South African antelope, is almost the same color as grapejuice! The belly, the inside of the buttocks and the area up to the base of the tail is white. Blesbok can be easily differentiated from other antelopes because they have a distinct white face and forehead. The legs are brown with a white patch behind the top part of the front legs. Lower legs whitish. Both sexes have horns, female horns are slightly more slender. The Blesbok differ from the Bontebok by having less white on the coat and the blaze on the face, which is usually divided, their coats are also a lighter brown than that of the Bontebok. Fun facts about the Blesbok Blesbok calves differ from most other small or medium antelope species by staying with their mothers instead of hiding. |
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