Kob

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For the television station, see KOB-TV.

Kob

Conservation status

Conservation Dependent

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Genus:	Kobus
Species:	K. kob

Binomial name

Kobus kob
(Erxleben, 1777)

The Kob (Kobus kob) is an antelope found across Sub-Saharan West Africa.

Kob stand 70 to 100 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh from 80 to 100 kilograms. Their backs are an orange-red colour, which lightens to white on the undersides and legs. There are white rings around the eyes and a black stripe down the legs. The short ringed horns, found only in males, are around 50 centimetres in length and arch out slightly so that they are somewhat 'S' shaped in profile.

Kob are found in wet areas (such as floodplains) where they eat grass. Kob are diurnal, but inactive during the heat of the day. They live in groups of either females and calves or just males. These groups generally range from five to forty animals, but in some places groups of over a thousand are known. Males are territorial and in some areas are found patrolling circular territories less than thirty metres across surrounded by other males guarding similar territories, these groups of territories are called leks and rarely contain more than fifteen animals. The male patrols the border of his territory whistling loudly and may only hold the territory for a week before moving on, typically with several other members of the lek.

The Ugandan Kob appears on the coat of arms of Uganda.

[edit] Behavior

The behavior of the kob has been an influential example in the development of the field of ethology. Robert Ardrey cites several key behaviors (based on research by Helmut K Buechner at Washington State University^{[citation needed]}):

Male kobs compete for territory, never for females.
On a kob stamping ground (called a "lek" by later researchers), the "proprietor" of the territory almost always wins any fight.
The psychological advantage of the proprietor reduces the incidence and severity of actual fighting.
Antagonism between male kobs is confined to the stamping ground.
Copulation occurs nowhere but on the stamping ground.
Populations of kob do not mix.
"Attachment to a piece of ground is stronger than to the female herd."

[edit] References

Antelope Specialist Group (1996). Kobus kob. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006.
Ardrey, Robert (1966). The Territorial Imperative. New York: Atheneum, 390.