| Blue Duiker[1] | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Cephalophinae |
| Genus: | Philantomba |
| Species: | P. monticola |
| Binomial name | |
| Philantomba monticola Thunberg, 1789 |
|
Blue Duiker (Philantomba monticola) is a small forest dwelling duiker found in the Central Africa and southern South Africa.
Blue Duikers stand around 35 centimetres tall at the shoulder and weigh 4 kilograms.They are the smallest of the antelope family. Blue Duikers have a brown coat with a slight blue tinge – hence their name – and a white underside. There is a glandular slit beneath both eyes and a very slight crest between the ears. Blue Duikers have simple conical horns of 2 to 10 centimetres. Females don't always have horns.
Blue Duiker live mainly in rainforests, where they eat fruit, flowers and leaves, which have fallen from the canopy as well as eggs, and insects. It is, in turn, the prey of the Crowned Eagle. Blue Duiker are nocturnal and solitary or form mating pairs. They are very territorial animals, patrolling the borders of their territory and marking it with their dung and excretions from glands above their hooves and under their eyes. They will chase off any intruders and only tolerate their children's presence until they reach 18 months.[3]
Blue Duiker generally produce 1 offspring per year. Gestation is estimated at between 4 and 7.5 months.[4]
Blue Duiker are not at all endangered and are in fact quite common – in Gabon they can reach population densities of almost 80 animals per square kilometre.