page_title: Waterbuck
section_title: Diet
hierarchical_section_title: Waterbuck / Diet
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Weibliche Ellipsen-Wasserböcke im Selous-Wildreservat English: Female ellipsen waterbucks in Selous Game Reserve
context_page_description: The waterbuck is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus Kobus of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. The thirteen subspecies are grouped under two varieties: the common or Ellipsiprymnus waterbuck and the Defassa waterbuck. The head-and-body length is typically between 177–235 cm and the average height is between 120 and 136 cm. A sexually dimorphic antelope, males are taller as well as heavier than females. Males reach approximately 127 cm at the shoulder, while females reach 119 cm. Males typically weigh 198–262 kg and females 161–214 kg. The coat colour varies from brown to grey. The long, spiral horns, present only on males, curve backward, then forward and are 55–99 cm long.
  Waterbuck are rather sedentary in nature. A gregarious animal, the waterbuck may form herds consisting of six to 30 individuals. These groups are either nursery herds with females and their offspring or bachelor herds. Males start showing territorial behaviour from the age of five years, but are most dominant from the age of six to nine.
context_section_description: The waterbuck exhibits great dependence on water. It can not tolerate dehydration in hot weather, and thus inhabits areas close to sources of water. However, it has been observed that unlike the other members of its genus (such as the kob and puku), the waterbuck ranges farther into the woodlands while maintaining its proximity to water. With grasses constituting a substantial 70 to 95 percent of the diet, the waterbuck is predominantly a grazer frequenting grasslands. Reeds and rushes like Typha and Phragmites may also be preferred. A study found regular consumption of three grass species round the year: Panicum anabaptistum, Echinochloa stagnina and Andropogon gayanus. Hyparrhenia involucrata, Acroceras amplectens and Oryza barthii along with annual species were the main preference in the early rainy season, while long life grasses and forage from trees constituted three-fourths of the diet in the dry season.
  Though the defassa waterbuck were found to have a much greater requirement for protein than the African buffalo and the Beisa oryx, the waterbuck was found to spend much less time on browsing (eating leaves, small shoots and fruits) in comparison to the other grazers. In the dry season about 32 percent of the 24-hour day was spent in browsing, whereas no time was spent on it during the wet season. The choice of grasses varies with location rather than availability; for instance, in western Uganda, while Sporobolus pyramidalis was favoured in some places, Themeda triandra was the main choice elsewhere. The common waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck in the same area may differ in their choices; it has been observed that while the former preferred Heteropogon contortus and Cynodon dactylon, the latter showed less preference for these grasses.
caption: The waterbuck is predominantly a grazer.
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