The Cape Leopard Trust team has been able to capture many amazing images of the Cape’s wildlife over the years. However, they have never been able to snap one of a baby grysbok, until now.
After many years of patient waiting, the team finally had their wish answered as a baby Grysbok strolled past their camera in Bainskloof.
The camera captured an image of the baby buck and his mother strolling through the wildnerness on April 24 at 9.49pm and we have to say, he is a cute little guy indeed.
“The Cape grysbok (Raphicerus melanotis), which literally translates to ‘grey buck’, is a small, stocky antelope with a shaggy coat of rufous hair copiously speckled with white hair – which gives it the appearance of going grey. It is endemic to the Cape Floristic Region where they are locally common. Dense vegetation is an important habitat requirement and they keep in fynbos, thicket and shrubland. They are cryptic, shy and rarely seen,” says the Cape Leopard Trust.
The Cape grysbok are solitary except when mating or when a female bears a lamb. Ewe pregnancies last for six months and they only give birth to a single lamb. The lamb is usually kept hidden.
In the Cape, 20% of a leopard’s diet consists of grysbok, they are also highly targeted by illegal hunting for bushmeat and often caught in snares.
Picture: Facebook