Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

This time I have for you a couple of Africa's most distinctive, and yet not at all widely known, antelopes – Gerenuks! The Gerenuk, Litocranius walleri, is also called the Giraffe-necked Antelope. Indeed, the name Gerenuk comes from Swahili and means giraffe-necked. It is clear why: they have extraordinarily long necks. That of the male is thicker and more muscular, that of the female being very slender. (Note though that you're seeing the female in my picture head-on. Her neck is very narrow seen from the front but deeper when seen from the side.)

Bodies for Browsing

These antelopes' long necks – indeed just about every part of their bodies – are adapted for browsing. Gerenuks live in dry savannah and scrubby, open woodlands in northeastern Africa. They frequently browse from the thorn trees that are common in such habitat. The thorns of these trees are excellent defenses, their leaves and pods being very nutritious. Some browsers like giraffes and black rhinos have such tough lips and gums that they can eat the twigs, leaves and thorns and all. Gerenuks however have very narrow, delicate faces and mouths. They can use these to pick out the leaves from in between the thorns. They browse on several other species of trees, shrubs, vines and climbers as well.

Also while gerenuks are not particularly large, they have a unique way of extending their reach. They have an overall head-body length, including their short tails, of about 1.5 m/5'. But they are able to rear up on their long, slender hind legs, giving them another foot or two of height. They have an excellent sense of balance and can stand like this for a long time. In addition, they use their long front legs to rake at branches and pull them closer to their mouths. This way they can reach foliage well beyond most other antelopes, and pick out the freshest, juiciest leaves. They are able to extract all the moisture they need from the leaves, not needing to drink at all. This helps them to survive in these dry regions where little surface water is ever available. They also have very efficient kidneys, and have even been seen drinking each other's urine.

Only the male gerenuk has horns. These are lyre-shaped and ridged except for the very tips. They're not much different from those of many species of gazelle, to which gerenuks are quite closely related, but stout and strong at the base. The male gerenuk has a rather different skull from gazelles, as well. Apart from the fine snout, the gerenuk has the back of its skull much lengthened and also reinforced with thick bone. The scientific name 'Litocranius' indeed means 'stone-skull'. This is because the males fight among each other, knocking their horns together. Their necks, much thicker and more muscular than the females', are adapted for this as well. Gerenuks can also use their horns to defend against predators, but mostly run away, managing great speed with their long legs. They take a zig-zag course through dense bush, stretching their necks straight forward and using their strong skulls and horns (in the male) to knock away thorny branches so that their delicate necks are not damaged. By day, when not feeding, they also adopt a resting posture with their necks stretched forward. With their brown bodies they can blend in surprisingly well amidst the miniature trees of their dry habitat.

Adult male gerenuks defend quite large territories, chasing away all other inferior males. They allow the females in their range to keep their small and sub-adult offspring with them though. The dominant male marks his territory by rubbing a scented secretion from the gland in front of his eye onto twigs and branches. He even rubs his face scent onto 'his' females! Gerenuks also have scent glands below their 'knees' (actually, wrists and ankles) and between their hooves. This way, they leave their scent as far as they go. Gerenuk mothers and children keep track of each other while browsing in the bush by periodically uttering a frog-like grunt. Babies are born in the wet season, only a single lamb per female. For several weeks the lamb remains hidden in a dense thicket, its mother returning to suckle it after she has fed. Then it starts to accompany her, and by the age of a year to a year and a half, it becomes independent.

The gerenuk has a close relative, the Dibatag, Ammodorcas clarkei. The digatag has a neck not quite as long, and differently-shaped horns. It is very endangered. Gerenuks are still widespread and fairly abundant, but are vulnerable to continued habitat destruction and degradation as well as to hunting. Their natural predators are lions, leopards and other large, wild cats, hyenas and (for lambs) jackals.

Colours of Wildlife Archive

Willem

09.02.15 Front Page

Back Issue Page