Saturday, July 12, 2014

A Zebra That's Not a Zebra - the Zebra Duiker

Also known as the banded duiker or zebra antelope, it is called as such due to its stripes very similar to a zebra. Duiker on the other hand is an Afrikaan word for "diver", which refers to the animal's ability of rapid diving motion toward the bushes when disturbed.



This duiker is a small version of the common antelopes, where females are larger than the male counterpart and with weight that ranges from 9 kg - 20 kg. Both have horns, though males have longer ones, both are distinct from other duikers due to its absence of tuft on their foreheads.



Other types of duikers are now considered vulnerable due to hunting, but the zebra duiker is not much affected by this factor. They have a great fleeting ability for humans and their preys alike. However, just like other species which are slowly declining not by hunting, deforestation is very difficult for all animals to evade, thus, still giving the zebra duikers a decreasing number.


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