Species profile
About the lesser kudu
The lesser kudu is a dry-country specialist: slate-grey in the bull, chestnut in the cow, with eleven to fifteen crisp white stripes and two conspicuous white patches on the throat. It is smaller and much more delicately built than the greater kudu, and even shyer.
It is restricted to the arid thornbush of the Horn of Africa and East Africa, and Tanzania sits at the southern edge of that range. Ruaha, Tarangire and Mkomazi are the parks where visitors have a real chance, and it is one of very few places where both kudu species can be seen on one trip.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Crepuscular and nocturnal, lying up in thicket by day. Depends on cover and stillness rather than flight, and rarely stands in the open.
Social life
Small groups of one to three females with young; bulls are solitary or in temporary pairs and hold no territory.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
Two white throat patches, more numerous and sharper body stripes than the greater kudu, and no beard on the bull.
