The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe (''Kobus leche'') is an

antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

found in

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

of south-central Africa.

Range

The lechwe is native to Botswana, Zambia, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern Namibia, and eastern Angola, especially in the Okavango Delta, Kafue Flats, and Bangweulu Wetlands. The species is fairly common in zoos and wild animal farms.

Description

Adult lechwe typically stand at the shoulder and generally weigh from , with males being larger than females. They are golden brown with white bellies. Males are darker in colour, but exact hue and amount of blackish on the front legs, chest and body varies depending on

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. The long, spiral horns are vaguely lyre-shaped and borne only by males. The hind legs are somewhat longer in proportion than in other antelopes to ease long-distance running on marshy soil. File:Red Lechwe in the Okavango.jpg, Adult red lechwes in the Okavango Delta, Botswana File:Leaping Lechwe.jpg, alt=Female red lechwe runningOkavango Delta, Botswana, Female red lechwe,
Okavango Delta File:Red lechwe (Kobus leche leche) juvenile.jpg, alt=Juvenile red lechweOkavango Delta, Botswana, Juvenile red lechwe,
Okavango Delta File:Red lechwe (Kobus leche leche) males fighting, composite.jpg, alt=Males red lechwes flightingOkavango Delta, Botswana, Male red lechwes fighting,
Okavango Delta

Habitats

Lechwe are found in

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

y areas where they are an important

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

s, as well as

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

es that are found in flooded

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...

. They use the knee-deep water as protection from predators. Their legs are covered in a water-repellant substance which allows them to run quite fast in knee-deep water. Lechwe are diurnal. They gather in herds which can include many thousands of individuals. Herds are usually all of one sex, but during mating season they mix.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Four subspecies of the lechwe have been recognized. * Common red lechwe (''Kobus leche leche'') (Gray, 1850) - Widely distributed in the wetlands of

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. * Kafue Flats lechwe (''Kobus leche kafuensis'') ( Haltenorth, 1963) - It is confined within the Kafue Flats (seasonally inundated flood-plain on the Kafue River, Zambia). * Roberts' lechwe (''Kobus leche robertsi'') (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

, 1907) - Formerly found in northeastern Zambia, now extinct. Also called the Kawambwa lechwe. * Black lechwe (''Kobus leche smithemani'') ( Lydekker, 1900) - Found in the Bangweulu region of Zambia. In addition, the Upemba lechwe (''Kobus anselli'') and the extinct Cape lechwe (''Kobus venterae'') are also considered subspecies by some authorities (as ''Kobus leche anselli'' and ''Kobus leche venterae''). Although related and sharing the name "lechwe", the Nile lechwe (''K. megaceros'') is consistently recognized as a separate species.

Reproduction

Lechwe mate during rain seasons of November to February. They have a gestation period of seven to eight months so a majority of calves are born from July to September. Although rare, hybrids between lechwe and waterbuck have been observed.

References

External links

*ARKive
images and movies of the black lechwe ''(Kobus leche smithemani)''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q273565 Marsh antelopes Mammals of Sub-Saharan Africa Mammals of Central Africa Mammals of Angola Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of Namibia Mammals of Zambia Mammals described in 1850 Taxa named by John Edward Gray