Kudu

The elegant kudu, Mickey Mouse of the bush

Motionless and well camouflaged, the tall antelope stands in the thick bush. The huge, round ears pick up every sound. The air is tested for any strange smells and the dark eyes scan the area for the slightest movement. A bark-like alarm call sets the bush in motion as a small herd of greater kudu disappear with their short tails lifted, showing the white underside which seems to be a sign to “follow me”.  sign. Because of their large round ears they are called the Mickey Mouse of the bush.

Greater kudu, with their characteristic corkscrew horns that measure up to 1.8 m long and are normally only found on males, are classified as huntable game in Namibia. These antelopes, which can clear obstacles such as standard 1.20 m stock fences from a standing position, are found all over Namibia in suitable savannah woodland habitat, but not in desert, forest or open grassland areas. Kudus have 5 to 14 unevenly spaced transverse stripes across their backs which are unique to each individual, like fingerprints. Kudus are mainly browsers, feeding on a great variety of plants and seed pods, but they also feed on fresh grass.

Nobody knows exactly how many kudus occur in Namibia. These antelopes are utilised by farmers and some communal conservancies for their own use (meat), as trophy animals (mature males only), during the official hunting season (June/July on farms with normal stock fencing; May to August on farms with game-proof fencing) by meat hunters, and through live sales by game farms.

The kudu population fluctuates in Namibia due to rabies. Namibia is the only country where rabies is found within kudu populations, and this greatly effects kudu numbers. The first notable outbreak was from 1978 to 1985 and another one occurred from 2000 to 2015. It seems that another outbreak has started this year. A lot of research has been done on this disease by Dr Rainer Hassel since 1979, with a few interruptions when he had a private veterinary clinic. He tried to find a way of vaccinating kudus orally by making “biscuits” from camelthorn pods. The project was not very successful, and many farmers decided to vaccinate kudus with the help of dart guns from helicopters which is a very expensive exercise. Others started vaccinating kudus with dart guns from hides at waterholes and saltlicks which is less expensive but time consuming.

According to Dr Hassel a new vaccine has been developed by a German research laboratory for another trial of oral vaccination. This project is set to start towards the end of this year (2024).

Little is known about the movement of kudus on commercial farms, on communal land and in national parks. During 2012 a number of kudu bulls in the Seeis area east of Windhoek were fitted with transmitters to find out more about their movements on commercial farms in that area. Unfortunately, the project did not last as long as anticipated, because most of the marked animals died of rabies and the remaining ones were poached. Some interesting results obtained from the project showed that a game fence on the border with a neighbouring farm stopped any migration, while kudu bulls were reluctant to cross the B6 main road between Windhoek and Gobabis even though there was no physical barrier that stopped them. On the farms they generally avoided crossing open grasslands but rather followed the bush-line around the open area.

In the Waterberg Plateau National Park kudus were marked to find out if they could be used as an indicator species for black rhino since both browse on the same plants. Because of their thick skin it is not easy to see if a rhino is skinny or losing weight. Thus, if the condition of the kudus deteriorates it could be an indication that the condition of the black rhinos is also declining.

Kudus are responsible for most serious traffic accidents at night. It seems that they rush towards the lights of an oncoming vehicle after being spooked by their own appearing shadows that are generated by the approaching vehicle´s lights, thinking it is a predator. In the process they are then blinded by the lights and do not see the vehicle. This is why tourists should avoid driving at night, especially on less frequented roads and gravel roads.

Text and photos by Dirk Heinrich