Black duiker

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Black duiker
Cephalophus niger.jpg
Cephalophus niger
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Genus: Cephalophus
Species:
C. niger
Binomial name
Cephalophus niger
Gray, 1846
Cephalophus Niger Distribution Map.svg
Distribution of Black duiker

The black duiker (Cephalophus niger), also known as tuba in Dyula, is a forest-dwelling duiker found in the southern parts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria.

Black duikers stand around 500 mm (20 in) tall at the shoulder and weigh 15 to 20 kg (33 to 44 lb). They have, not surprisingly, black coats. The head is a rust colour with a large red crest between the ears. Black duikers have long, thin horns of 80 to 170 mm (3.1 to 6.7 in), but the horns of females reach only 30 mm (1.2 in).

Black duikers live mainly in lowland rainforest, where they eat fruit, flowers, and leaves which have fallen from the canopy. They are probably diurnal, though this is surmised only from captive specimens. Black duiker are reported to be solitary, territorial animals.

The mating season of the black duikers is year round, but more offspring are born from November to January. The gestation period lasts 126 days, and is thus comparably short, usually only one young is born. Its average weight is 1.94 kg; it is weaned around 90 days of age. The birth interval is seven and a half months. In captivity, the black duiker lives up to 14 years.[2]

An estimated 100,000 black duikers are left in the world;[1] they are threatened by hunting and are considered to be in decline across their range.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). "Cephalophus niger". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  2. ^ Th. Haltenorth; H. Diller: Säugetiere Afrikas und Madagaskars. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, ISBN 978 3405 11392 6 Jonathan Kingdon: The Kingdon Pocket Guide to Afrikan Mammals. A&C Black Publishers Ltd., London, 2004, ISBN 978 0 7136 6981 7

C. P. Groves & D. M. Leslie, Jr.: Family Bovidae (Hollow-horned Ruminants). In: D. E. Wilson und R. A. Mittermeier (Hrsg.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, 2011 (S. 764-765) ISBN 978-849-655-377-4 Cephalophus niger in der Roten Liste gefährdeter Arten der IUCN 2012.2. Eingestellt von: IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2008. Abgerufen am 23. Oktober 2012

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