Uganda Kob

The Kob is an antelope that is usually found near permanent water sources. They frequent moist savannah, floodplains, and the margins of adjacent woodlands. A Kob stands 70 to 100 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh from 80 to 100 kilograms. Their backs are an orange-red colour, which lightens to white on the undersides and legs. There are white rings around the eyes and a black stripe down the legs. The white-coloured facial markings include conspicuous eye rings, the insides of ears, and a throat bib.  The outer sides of the legs have a vertical black stripe running down the length, while the insides are white in colour.   

The bushy tail is white underneath and terminates with a black tip.  The "S"-shaped horns are found only in males, and bend sharply backwards, then curve up.  Horns average 44 cm in length and are ridged with transverse corrugations. They are curved, turning up at the tips.

Kobs are diurnal, but inactive during the heat of the day. The kob is most active in the morning and late afternoon.  Adult males are territorial, although the size of their defended ranges varies depending on the habitat and population density.  The two extremes of this spectrum are a few relatively large areas, or a concentrated group of extremely small territories. 

The tradition with which both male and female kobs return to permanently located territorial breeding grounds (called leks), along with the dispersion of individuals in relationship to a home TG and morphological variation between individuals associated with different leks, indicates that the total population of kob is subdivided into relatively closed breeding units.

Altruistic behaviour among territorial males may contribute to kinship selection, and the individual kob behaviour in response to predation suggests that altruism may have a bearing on the regulation of predation. The lek system of social organization may be significant in maintaining genetic heterogeneity in the kob antelope, which lives in geographically isolated populations throughout its range.