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The grey rhebok or gray rhebuck (''Pelea capreolus''), locally known as the ''reebok'' in
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans grad ...
, is a species of
antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammal ...
native to South Africa,
Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...
, and Eswatini (Swaziland). The specific name ''capreolus'' is Latin for 'little goat'.


Description

left, A female at the San Diego Zoo The grey rhebok is a medium-sized antelope weighing with a long neck and narrow ears. The coat is short and dense and coloured in various shades of grey. Only the males carry horns, which are straight, sharp, ringed at the base, and around long.


Distribution and habitat

Generally confined to the higher areas of Southern Africa, they typically inhabit grassy, montane habitats - for example, sourveld - usually 1000 m above sea level, and carry a woolly grey coat to insulate them from the cold. They are not strictly limited to this habitat as they can be found in the coastal belt of the Cape, almost at sea level.


Reproduction and behaviour

The grey rhebok is territorial and maintains its
territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
by urinating and defecating, standing or walking in an upright posture, and patrolling. Males become extremely aggressive during the
breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and cha ...
. The grey rhebok usually aggregates in herds of one to 15 females and young and one mature male. This species is therefore polygynous. The grey rhebok is a seasonal breeder, with mating taking place between January and April. Females are pregnant for about seven months, and give birth to a single calf in late spring and summer (November to January in the Southern Hemisphere). This species is a browser, and gets most of its water from the food it eats, so it can utilize food sources a long distance from standing water.


Conservation status

The grey rhebok is listed as
Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...
, with the population estimated to be at least 2,000 individuals in protected areas and perhaps as many as 18,000 in unprotected areas. The uncertainty regarding the exact number is due to extensive areas of the species' range not having been surveyed or where estimates are unavailable.


In contemporary culture

The Afrikaans spelling of the species, ''reebok'', lends its name to the British-American sportswear manufacturing company
Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
. In 1958, Reebok founder Joseph William Foster found the name in ''US Webster’s New School and Office Dictionary''.


References


External links

{{Authority control Bovidae Antelopes of Sub-Saharan Africa Mammals of Eswatini Mammals of Lesotho Mammals of South Africa Mammals of Southern Africa
grey rhebok The grey rhebok or gray rhebuck (''Pelea capreolus''), locally known as the ''reebok'' in Afrikaans, is a species of antelope native to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini (Swaziland). The specific name ''capreolus'' is Latin for 'little goat' ...