Dave Taylor's African Safari: Trophic Level II - The Herbivores - Topi

Dave Taylor's African Safari: Trophic Level II - The Herbivores - Topi - Page 30

Trophic Level II - The Herbivores
Topi
Page 30

Damalisque lunatus topi

Length: 150-230 cm (59-90")

Height: 100-115 cm (39-45")

Tail: 36-42 cm (14-17")

Weight: 129-160 kg (285-350 lb.)

Status: Common

Habitat: These antelopes are found in the seasonally flooded grasslands. During the dry season, they follow the receding waters. In the wet season, they retreat to higher ground.

Medium to short grass plains are preferred. They will also move into recently burned over areas which are created in the Serengeti-Mara region by Maasai, park wardens or lightning.

Food: Topi are grazers and eat the greenest, most tender shoots they can find. They do not eat old, coarse grass. They have an advantage over wildebeest and zebra in regions where dry grass is mixed with younger shoots because their muzzle and long nose allow them to select food more carefully. They are able to extract the best food available where the other species must consume more bulk to get the same nutritional value. Topi do not do as well on new pastures, however, where the bulk feeders have the advantage.

Social System: Topi have a highly variable social system. The most common pattern has territorial males occupying a home range. This occurs in patchy ranges where the topi population remains year round. Under these conditions, males gather a harem of 2 to 10 females with the young of that year. Some herds remain in the same 50 to 400 hectares (123-988 acres) all year.

Large migratory herds that follow the ebb and flow of the rainy season have a different pattern. Males mix freely with females when migrating but hurriedly set up territories when the herds stop to graze.

Bachelor herds exist in both scenarios. Both types of patterns may be found in the Serengeti-Mara.

In some spots, where females regularly pass through, leks or "breeding arenas" exist. These are places where up to 100 males stake out territory and await the arrival of the females. The breeding territory may be between 100 and 250 meters ( 328-820 feet) wide at the fringes and as small as 25 meters (82 feet) wide near the core. Those males in the center are the biggest and healthiest in the population and do most of the breeding.

Behavior: Female herds are close-knit and loyal. Newcomers will be challenged. If no male is present, cows will behave like dominant males towards interlopers. No rank order among female herd members has been documented.

Male topi join bachelor herds when they are between 8 and 16 months old. Sometimes yearling females will leave the herd and join bachelor groups too. Since topi females have a similar horn development and look like young males, it is a fairly easy move to make. They are bred in their second year and return to the cow herd.

Calves are born at the end of the dry season. Calves lie-out for three weeks except in those areas where large numbers of topi exist. They may join the herd after only a day or two. Calves that do join the herd gather in creches made up of their peers.

Male topi will stand on termite mounds. This allows them to see danger approaching but it also advertises their presence. Non-territorial animals will do this as well.

Predators: Spotted hyenas, lions and leopards are the main predators of this species. In the Mara, hyenas have been seen approaching a herd of resting topis during the midday rest period. The behavior of the hyena does not alarm the topi who ignore it for some reason. A sudden dash and the predator has snatched a resting calf or attacked an adult.

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