A safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda - October 2007

THE KOB
(Kobus kob thomasi)

This small member of the antelope family is graceful and charming, and lives in abundance across the savannah of Queen Elizabeth National Park. They rarely grow taller than 40 inches at the shoulder and weigh only about 200 pounds, more or less, when mature.

The Kob eat grasses. They live in herds of about 40 individuals. The females raise the young apart from the males. The males live in bachelor groups until the mating season. Their most distinctive characteristic are the horns, which form an “S” shape, and their red-brown back and white underbellies. The graceful Kob is depicted on the coat of arms of Uganda.

Females give birth to one young Kob, usually in our late Fall. The newborns are weak during their first few weeks, which makes them vulnerable to predators; they lie concealed in the taller grasses of the plain.