The sitatunga is East Africa’s only true amphibious antelope. It is distinguished by its long, splayed hooves. These hooves make the sitatunga clumsy and vulnerable on firm terrain, but well adapted for walking through muddy, vegetated swamplands. The sitatunga's shaggy, oily coat is another adaptation to an aquatic habitat. The males' coats are grayish-brown, while the females' are a reddish-chocolate brown, with six to eight vertical white stripes on the body. Males are also considerably larger than females and have long, twisting horns.
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The sitatunga lives in thickly vegetated, muddy swamps, and marshes.
Sitatungas are still found in small numbers in Saiwa Swamp National Park in western Kenya, as well as in larger populations around Lake Victoria and the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania and in several river basins in Uganda.
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Sitatungas use regular, tunneled pathways through tall reeds and papyrus. As a swamp provides a year-round supply of rich food, sitatungas have exceptionally small home ranges. They are good but slow swimmers capable of paddling several miles. Usually half-submerged, they can dive deeper if in danger, staying hidden with only part of the head out of water. They will rest on dry mounds or floating islands in the swamp, turning circles on the spot until the grass is trampled into a springy mat. Young are also placed on these mats, raised out of the water. However, young sitatungas are more independent of their mothers than are most antelopes. Half-grown sitatungas are often seen foraging on their own. Although essentially solitary animals, pairs associate for short periods of time for mating and small, temporary mixed groups are occasionally formed.
The young are born on a dry, trampled mat in the swamp. The newborn lies out for as long as a month, with only short visits from its mother for suckling. Although nursed from 4 to 6 months, it is more independent of its mother than are most other antelopes. The ties between mother and young do not last for long, for half-grown sitatungas are often on their own.
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Sitatungas eat bullrushes, sedges and the leaves of bushes in the swamps, as well as grass in adjacent riverine forests. They will also eat fallen fruit and chew the bark of some trees and bushes.
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Sitatungas are easily caught by setting snares in their well-traveled paths in swamps. Because of this, overhunting outside protected areas is causing a rapid decline in their numbers. People are also destroying sitatunga habit by draining swamps.
Did You Know?
- Different subspecies of sitatunga across Africa vary in coloration and white markings; and in some the vertical stripes over the back are very faint.
- Sitatungas will often stay and feed extensively in a small area for days or weeks, then suddenly desert it and move on to another area.
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