There are numerous different types of deer in Africa, including sable, roan, impala, gemsbok, and waterbuck. The species of African horned deer are distinct.Â
The Barbary stag, a red deer found in the highland forests of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, typically calls it home.
However, according to another study, these deer types in Africa should belong to their species and not be a subspecies of the red deer.
Let’s go on our blog list of types of deer in Africa.
1. Barbary Stag
One of the truly native types of deer in Africa is the barbary stag.
Most of this species of African horned deer, which dwells in the moist woods of northern Africa, are found in the Atlas Mountains.
The Barbary stag makes a good impression thanks to its stunning, jagged horns.
It belongs to the crimson deer species, which can also be found in the Caucasus, Southern Europe, North Africa, and Central Asia.
Genetic analysis is divided on whether the Barbary stag belongs to its species or subspecies.
According to one study, the red deer found on the Italian islands of Sardinia and Corsica and the African deer are identical.
2. Eland
The cow-like eland is one of the largest types of deer in Africa. However, it can maintain a trot for long and jump a 1.5-meter (4-foot) fence while standing still.
Both sexes have spiraling horns that are tightly wound, while female horns are frequently longer and thinner.
The common eland (Taurotragus oryx), often known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is found throughout East and Southern Africa.
The gigantic eland is an herbivore that eats grasses, leaves, and branches. It usually groups together in small herds of 15–25 members, both males and females.
The common eland (Taurotragus oryx), also referred to as the southern eland or eland antelope, is an antelope that lives in East and Southern Africa’s savannas and plains.
It belongs to the family Bovidae and the genus Taurotragus. Its gestation period is 274 days long and lasts between 15 and 20 years.
3. Kudu
The lesser kudu and greater kudu are both antelope species that belong to the genus Tragelaphus. Tragelaphus strepsiceros, a larger kudu found in eastern and southern Africa.
Despite the larger kudu size of the larger kudu compared to the smaller kudu, the two species of kudus appear to be pretty similar.
The lesser and bigger kudus are antelope species in the Tragelaphus genus. Tragelaphus strepsiceros, a greater kudu native to eastern and southern Africa
The two species are similar, although the greater are larger than the lesser. 60–90kg for smaller kudus and 190–270kg for larger kudus. Height: For lesser kudu, 90 to 110cm.
Lower kudu move at a speed of 70km/h. Lesser kudus gestate in 222 days, compared to 240 days for greater kudus.
The larger kudu and the lesser kudu, a close relative, both have spots and stripes on their bodies, and most of these deer in Africa have a chevron-shaped area of white hair between their eyes.
4. Nyala
The spiral-horned antelope known as the lowland nyala, or simply nyala, is indigenous to southern Africa.
It is a species of the genus Nyala of the family Bovidae and is sometimes classified as a Tragelaphus species.
George French Angas gave the first account of it in 1849. It weighs 55–140kg and is 135–195cm tall.
Male nyala have more stripes, which are more noticeable due to their darker and longer coats. Male kudu have more noticeable humps.
The kudu’s horns have longer, corkscrew-shaped spirals and no golden tips. Kudu females more closely resemble males.
A female nyala bears a striking resemblance to a deer. She has no horns and stands slightly under three feet tall at the shoulder.
She has a crest of dark hair down her back and a reddish-brown coat with at least ten vertical white stripes running along it.
Due to the male Nyala’s much larger size (almost twice the body weight), he will be referred to as a “bull,” while the female will be referred to as a “ewe.”
5. Gerenuk
The giraffe of antelopes called Gerenuk is next on our list of types of deer in Africa.
They are extending their necks to eat on parched landscapes in Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
Some areas of East Africa are home to the long-necked antelope known as the gerenuk, also called the giraffe gazelle.
The gerenuk, the sole species of the genus Litocranius, was first described by naturalist Victor Brooke in 1879. It is distinctive due to its long, slender neck and limbs.
The gerenuk is more antisocial than other antelope species. These types of deer in Africa frequently travel alone or in small groups.
Gerenuks normally live in little groups of ten or fewer individuals and are made up of females and their young or subadult males.
Adult males live alone except during mating. They draw lines and mark them with gland secretions and urine.
They appear only to defend their areas against adolescent males. Amazingly, they obtain all the fluids they need from the flora and don’t even need to drink water.
6. Topi
The topic is a variety of the common tsessebe. It is a swift and exceedingly gregarious antelope species that lives in sub-Saharan Africa’s savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains.
Topi (Damaliscus lunatus), commonly known as tsessebe or sassaby, is one of Africa’s most common and widely dispersed types of deer.
It is a member of the Alcelaphini tribe, which includes the blesbok, hartebeest, and wildebeest.
It prefers wide open spaces devoid of any vegetation or trees. There are currently two subspecies of Tsessebe and five subspecies of Topi.
It is at risk due to meat hunting and cattle squabbling. An estimate says about 300,000 people live there.
7. Hartebeest
The hartebeest, also known as kongoni, is an African antelope. Eight subspecies have been identified, including two that are frequently considered to be independent species.
A hartebeest is a large antelope with fawn coloring. Their most distinctive characteristics include long legs, an elongated snout, and a sharply sloping back.
It is also known as the northern or bubal hartebeest. It once occurred in northern Africa, from Morocco to Egypt.
By the 1920s, it had completely disappeared. In 1994, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) declared it extinct.
They are primarily found in sub-Saharan Africa and no longer have a wide geographic range.
These types of deer in Africa are typically found in savannas and other habitats with medium-to-high grasses.
They are more tolerant of dense vegetation and wooded areas than other alcelaphines (typical plains antelopes).
8. Bontebok
The bontebok is a subspecies of the antelope Damaliscus pygargus, found in Namibia, Lesotho, and South Africa. South Africa, Lesotho, and Namibia are home to the bontebok antelope.
Its two subspecies are the blesbok, found in the Highveld, and the nominate subspecies of D. pygargus, which naturally exists in the Fynbos and Renosterveld districts of the Western Cape.
The common tsessebe and the bontebok are related.
Although bontebok are no longer found in their natural habitat, their number has increased to the point that they are now actively farmed and very widespread since they make for popular game for hunters and are easy to care for.
9. Bongo
This severely endangered antelope, which is bright orange in appearance and has stark white stripes, can be found in parts of Central Kenya and the Congo Basin.
They live in the woods like bushbuck. But very unusually, the female bongo possesses much more impressive horns than only the males.
The bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) is the largest, most colorful, and friendliest of the deer types in Africa. It belongs to the Tragelaphini subfamily of spiral-horned antelopes (family Bovidae).
It is the third heaviest antelope after the closely related giant and common elands. They only exist in the densely forested rainforests of tropical Africa.
They are notably found in the lowland rainforests of West Africa, the Congo Basin, the Central African Republic, and southern Sudan.Â
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), fewer than 100 mountain bongos are left in the wild due to various issues, including disease, poaching, and the destruction of forest habitat owing to unauthorized logging and farming.
10. Roan
A savanna antelope found in West and Central Africa is the roan antelope. It is the mission’s namesake, whose name was inspired by the French Antilope Chevaline.
Roan and other savanna antelopes can be found throughout western, central, and southern Africa.
The term “roan” relates to its lighter-colored black face, white cheeks and brows, and paler underbelly. It features upright manes, a light, short beard, and noticeable red nostrils.
These rare and endangered African deer have a patchy distribution in savannah regions south of the Sahara Desert.
It no longer exists anywhere save in areas with severe protection measures due to previous hunting demands.
Only elands, bongos, and huge male greater kudus can outweigh roan antelopes as one of the largest antelope species.
One of the largest African antelopes, the roan possesses long horns that are severely curved backward, long, pointed ears that are tufted at the points, a gray coat with black and white facial patterns, and other distinctive features.
Female: Unlike males, females possess smaller and less heavily ridged horns. Roan antelopes, primarily found in West and Central Africa, live in savannas.
They like open or moderately forested grasslands with medium-to-tall grass and availability of water.
11. Sable Antelope
Shimmering fur and putting horns make sable the most reserved of all types of deer in Africa. They are the species safari enthusiasts will look for after their third or fourth visit.
The sable antelope is an antelope that lives in the woodland savanna in East and Southern Africa, from the south of Kenya to South Africa.
Sable antelopes have a distinct population in Angola as well. Weight: 220kg (Adult). Sable antelope are primarily diurnal (active during the day); summer is when they are less active.
A single male, a bull, leads herds of 10 to 30 females and calf members. Male sable antelopes will fight one another, kneeling and wielding their horns.
With their calm, self-assured, if not slightly over-polished dispositions, sables are the most exquisite of the herbivore personalities.
Friends and acquaintances universally respect them for their excellent work ethic and commanding physical presence.
You’ll discover the meeting point between the savanna and the woodland. Because of this, they frequently return your gaze rather than running away.
12. Wildebeest
Wildebeest, an enormous antelope, is probably Africa‘s most well-known type of deer. Once they start their famed annual migration, you can’t miss them in the Masai Mara or Serengeti.
Connochaetes antelopes are native to Eastern and Southern Africa and are frequently called wildebeests or gnus.
They belong to the family of even-toed horned ungulates known as the Bovidae, including true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other species.
The main predators that hunt wildebeest include the lion, hyena, African wild dog, cheetah, leopard, and crocodile, and they seem to prefer it above other prey.
Wildebeests are affectionate and possessive animals. Females and their young gather in small herds, and many territories overlap.
After around a year, males will leave their herd and join a bachelor herd. At 4 or 5 years old, males develop a fierce sense of territoriality and depart from the bachelor herd.
13. Gemsbok
South African oryx, sometimes known as a gemsbok, is a large antelope in the genus Oryx. It is native to the arid, severely dry regions of Southern Africa, especially the Kalahari Desert.
Some sources originally classified the East African oryx, commonly referred to as the beisa oryx, as a subspecies.
After four months, calves can feed themselves and continue to live with the parent herd without being breastfed. Gemsboks reach maturity around one and a half to two years.Â
A 20-year lifespan is typical. These deer in Africa normally breed every nine months, and there is usually little time between giving birth and becoming pregnant again.
The breeding season lasts the entire year as long as water is available.
14. Impala
The medium-sized antelope Aepyceros melampus, also called the impala or rooibos, is the last deer on our list of African species.
A medium-sized antelope found in southern Africa and Japan is the impala.
During the day, an impala spends most of its time moving, sleeping, eating, and grooming. They lie down or think for most of the night.
Only impalas have been observed to engage in allogrooming or reciprocal grooming.
There are two recognized subspecies of impala: the common impala and the larger, darker, black-faced impala.
