Uganda’s open grasslands and wooded bushlands support Africa’s most splendid biodiversity of small, medium, and large antelope species. About 29 antelope species are found in Uganda, one-third of the African total. Of the antelope species found in Uganda, five fall into the category of large antelope, having a shoulder height above 120 centimetres (roughly the size of a zebra).
Eight are medium-sized antelope, with a shoulder height between 75-90 centimetres. The rest are small antelope, with a shoulder height between 30cm and 60cm.
All Antelopes are members of the Bovidae family, which also claims our domestic livestock. Bovidae has four basic categories, including grazers (wildebeest and hartebeest), selective grazers (steenbok, oribi, waterbuck, reedbuck, roan, sable, and oryx), and browsers (tsessebe, impala, eland, and gazelles), and browsers (bushbuck and kudu).
Antelopes are ruminants; they have four stomachs for silage in varying stages of digestion, and like domestic cattle, they reprocess already-swallowed fodder by chewing the cud.
Antelopes in Uganda
Common eland
Aka southern eland or eland antelope is the world’s second-largest savannah and plains antelope. It is found in Lake Mburo National Park, Kidepo Valley, and Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve in Uganda.
Greater Kudu
Is one of the biggest bushbuck antelopes, strikingly handsome, with a grey-brown coat marked by thin white side stripes. You’ll see this handsome antelope in Kidepo Valley National Park.
Jackson’s Hartebeest.
The Hartebeest is a large and ungainly looking, tan-coloured antelope and in Uganda, we have two species, Lelwei and Jackson’s hartbeests
Defassa waterbuck
Lives in small herds and is most often seen grazing near water. It is found in suitable habitats in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, and Kidepo Valley National Parks.
Roan antelope
Roan antelope is present only in small numbers in Pian Upe Game Reserve and has become locally extinct in Kidepo Valley and Lake Mburo National parks.
Uganda kob
Although closely related to the waterbuck and reedbuck, Uganda kob is reddish-brown, similar to the impala but bulkier in appearance and lacking the impala’s black side-stripe.
Bushbuck
Probably the most widespread antelope in Uganda is the bushbuck. It lives in forests, riverine woodland & other thicketed habitats.
Sitatunga
A semi-aquatic tropical antelope similar (in appearance) and closely related to the bushbuck. It lives in suitable habitats throughout six of Uganda’s national parks, but is most likely visible in Katonga Wildlife Reserve.
Bushbuck
Probably the most widespread antelope in Uganda is the bushbuck. It lives in forests, riverine woodland & other thicketed habitats.
Sitatunga
A semi-aquatic tropical antelope similar (in appearance) and closely related to the bushbuck. It lives in suitable habitats throughout six of Uganda’s national parks, but is most likely visible in Katonga Wildlife Reserve.
Lesser kudu
This pretty, dry-country antelope is similar in appearance to the greater kudu but much smaller and more heavily striped. You’ll see it in Pian Upe Game Reserve.
Grant’s gazelle
Pale with long horns and legs and it roams the contiguous Pian Upe, Matheniko and Bokora wildlife reserves in Karamoja, northeastern Uganda.
Reedbuck
A reddish brown, medium-sized antelope with three species of but only two found in Uganda, mountain reedbuck (kidepo) and Bohor reedbuck (Queen Elizabeth, Murchison Falls, Kidepo Valley and Lake Mburo National Parks.)
Impala
characteristic is the tuft of black hair on the lower rear edge of the hind leg, as this is not shared with any other antelope only in Lake Mburo National Park and Katonga Wildlife Reserve and was recently reintroduced in Pain Upe Game Reserve.
Common duiker
This little antelope has the widest distribution of any African antelope. It is also called gray duiker, bush duiker, grimm’s duiker or savannah duiker. It occurs in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo Valley, Lake Mburo, and Mt Elgon National Parks.
Forest duiker
The forest duiker inhabits the rainforests of sub-Saharan Africa with several subspecies and in Uganda, the yellow-backed, red duiker, blue duiker & Peter’s duiker species are much more common.
Bete’s Pygmy Antelope
The world’s smallest antelope, Bates’ Pygmy Antelope has been recorded in Semliki National Park and in forests within and bordering the southern half of Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Klipspringer
The klipspringer has goat-like habits and is invariably found in the vicinity of Koppies or cliffs. It lives in pairs in suitable habitats in Kidepo Valley and Lake Mburo National Parks.
Bete’s Pygmy Antelope
The oribi is a gazelle-like antelope, (not much smaller than a Thomson’s gazelle) with a distinctive white line of fur over its eye and a bare, dark patch beneath each ear. You’ll see it in tall grass in all parks except Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Dik-dik
Standing just over a foot (30 cm) tall, Guenther’s dik-dik is miniature antelope that has a very distinctive appearance, with its long noses, big eyes, tufted topknot, and long back legs. You’ll find the dik-dik in Kepo Valley National Park.
How to see antelope in Uganda
More antelope species are native to Africa than any other continent, almost exclusively in savannahs, with 25-40 species co-occurring over much of East Africa. Uganda has rather a larger share of more than half the total.
It is rare to go on a safari game drive in Uganda and not see one of the most abundant animals on the continent, the antelope. You will likely encounter hundreds of antelopes in any of Uganda’s national parks during a single drive.
Sometimes, you will spot them in open grasslands as you drive on the country road like the Mbarara-Kasese highway.
YOu don’t need a safari guide to find these ungulates; just look out the window!
