Species profile
About the steenbok
The steenbok is a small, finely built antelope of open savanna, rich rufous above and clean white below, with very large ears lined with a distinctive network of dark veins. Only the male carries the short, straight, sharply pointed horns.
Unlike the dik-dik, it is essentially solitary, and unlike most antelope it buries its dung and urine, scraping a hole and covering it afterwards. It relies on freezing and then a fast, jinking run, often diving into an old aardvark burrow — a habit almost unique among antelope.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Active at dawn, dusk and through cool parts of the day. Freezes, then runs hard in a zig-zag, sometimes taking refuge underground.
Social life
Largely solitary; a pair shares a territory but the two animals are rarely seen together.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
Buries its droppings, and will shelter in an aardvark burrow — behaviour recorded in very few other antelope.
