page_title: Common tsessebe
section_title: Breeding and reproduction
hierarchical_section_title: Common tsessebe / Breeding and reproduction
caption_attribution_description: Malopenyana Waterhole, North of Letaba, Kruger NP, SOUTH AFRICA
context_page_description: The common tsessebe or sassaby is one of six subspecies of African antelope Damaliscus lunatus of the genus Damaliscus and subfamily Alcelaphinae in the family Bovidae. It is most closely related to the topi, korrigum, coastal topi and tiang, and the bangweulu tsessebe and bontebok in the same genus. Tsessebe are found primarily in Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and South Africa. Tsessebe are the fastest antelope in Africa and can run at speeds over 90 km/h.
context_section_description: Tsessebe reproduce at a rate of one calf per year per mating couple. Calves reach sexual maturity in two to three and half years. After mating, the gestation period of a tsessebe cow lasts seven months. The rut, or period when males start competing for females, starts in mid-February and stretches through March. The female estrous cycle is shorter, but happens in this time.
  The breeding process starts with the development of a lek. Leks are established by the congregation of adult males in an area that females visit only for mating. Lekking is of particular interest since the female choice of a mate in the lek area is independent of any direct male influence. Several options are available to explain how females choose a mate, but the most interesting is in the way the male's group in the middle of a lek. 
  The grouping of males can appeal to females for several reasons. First, groups of males can protect from predators. Secondly, if males group in an area with a low food supply, it prevents competition between males and females for resources. Finally, the grouping of males provides females with a wider variety of mates to choose from, as they are all located in one central area. Dominant males occupy the center of the leks, so females are more likely to mate at the center than at the periphery of the lek.
  A study by Bro-Jorgensen (2003) allowed a closer look into lek dynamics. The closer a male is to the center of the lek, the greater his mating success rate. For a male to reach the center of the lek, he must be strong enough to outcompete other males. Once a male's territory is established in the middle of the lek, it is maintained for quite a while; even if an area opens up at the center, males rarely move to fill it unless they can outcompete the large males already present. However, maintaining central lek territory has many physical drawbacks. For example, males are often wounded in the process of defending their territory from hyenas and other males.
caption: A young at the Kruger National Park, South Africa
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