Antelopes & Gazelles Mammal Least Concern (IUCN)

Oribi

Ourebia ourebi Kiswahili: Taya

A slender golden grassland antelope with a black tail tip and a bare dark patch below the ear — a Serengeti grassland speciality.

Where to look: Serengeti National Park — western corridor and northern grasslands Ngorongoro Conservation Area Nyerere National Park and Selous ecosystem Katavi National Park
Best time: Year-round; particularly visible after grassland fires and early in the rains when new grass draws them into the open.
Habitat: Open and lightly wooded grassland with a mix of short grazing and taller grass for cover; often on floodplain margins.

All Tanzania wildlife

In the field

Photograph coming soon

We publish our own photographs rather than stock pictures, so this profile is waiting on a oribi image from one of our guides. It will be added as soon as we have one worth showing — the field notes below are complete in the meantime.

Species profile

About the oribi

The oribi is a small, long-necked antelope of open grassland, sandy gold above and white below, with short straight horns on the male and a distinctive bare black scent patch just below each ear. It is a grazer rather than a browser, unusual among antelope this size.

It lies flat in the grass when disturbed and only breaks cover at the last moment, then runs with a bouncing stot before stopping to look back. The Serengeti's western corridor and its wetter northern grasslands hold the best Tanzanian populations.

Life in the wild

Behavior & relationships

Behavior

Diurnal and crepuscular. Freezes flat in grass rather than fleeing early, then bounds away with a whistling snort.

Social life

Usually a monogamous pair or a male with two or three females, holding a territory marked by dung middens and glandular secretions.

What makes it remarkable

Special features

A circular bare black gland patch below the ear, and a short black-tipped tail flicked conspicuously when running.

At a glance

Kiswahili name: Taya
Wildlife group: Antelopes & Gazelles
Type: Mammal
Family: Bovidae
Habitat: Open and lightly wooded grassland with a mix of short grazing and taller grass for cover; often on floodplain margins.
Tanzania locations: Serengeti National Park — western corridor and northern grasslands
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Nyerere National Park and Selous ecosystem
Katavi National Park
Sighting availability: Localised and uncommon; regular in the right grassland.
Best time to see: Year-round; particularly visible after grassland fires and early in the rains when new grass draws them into the open.

Where to see it

Browse every profile recorded in one of these destinations.

Food & life cycle

Diet: Primarily a grazer on short fresh grass, with some browse; drawn to recently burned ground for new growth.
Gestation / incubation: About 6–7 months; a single lamb kept hidden for up to a month.
Lifespan: Around 8–12 years in the wild.