On South African safaris everyone clamors for sightings of the big five — lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and water buffalo — the most dangerous beasts in the land. Another South African beast captured my heart and imagination — the Greater Kudu. Horns curling fantastically skyward, bold white stripes emblazoned across muscular shoulders, the kudu’s striking image appears everywhere throughout South Africa, from tee-shirts and mugs to fine art. In fact, a stylized kudu serves as the logo for the South African National Park System. The noble kudu seems to symbolize South Africa itself — bounty and loss, conservation and conflict.
Before dawn our safari guide picked us up for our first venture in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.* She piled warm blankets over us for the chill morning ride in the open-sided safari vehicle. We arrived at the gate with the rising sun, eager for our first encounter with wildlife. We would not be disappointed. Immediately, we saw a herd of zebras grazing near the road. While known to be skittish, they showed no fear of us and continued to breakfast while we looked on.
Our guide Jessica Ney, a slight young woman in khaki shorts with an upbeat British accent, trained as a zookeeper in the U.S. Her encyclopedic knowledge of fauna and flora enthralled us throughout the day. Following a trail of scat, she led us to a fierce-looking black rhino marking his territory. Soon after, we encountered a group of massive elephants uprooting trees to munch on the nutrient-rich roots. Maintaining contact with other guides throughout the park, Jessica got a heads up on a lion sighting. She sped across the park to where a pride of lions lazed about in the late morning sun. Nearby, we saw a lion couple mating. Though the male growled ferociously, we noticed that the female initiated every encounter. That first day, we saw four of the big five — as well as zebras, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, wild dogs, impala, deer-like steenbok, monkeys, fish eagles, tufted go-away birds, and colorful little lilac-breasted rollers. (A week later we checked off the last of the big five, the elusive leopard.)
Jessica spied the kudus on a crest not far from the road. Two females stood guard over the herd below, ready to sound the alarm in case of approaching danger. The Greater Kudu (close cousin to the Lesser Kudu) is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. The handsome bulls reach weights up to 420-600 pounds and the smaller cows, 260-460 pounds. Those fantastic horns, the bull kudu’s most distinctive feature, grow as high as 72 inches with 2-1/2 or even 3 graceful twists.
Matriarchal herds of three to twenty cows protect the young. Adult males who win the right to mate join a herd during mating season. If a kudu survives hungry predators, it can live about seven to eight years in the wild. Kudus graze on leaves, seed pods, and fresh growth of plants and shrubs. National parks, such as Kruger, and private game reserves (almost 9,000 in South Africa alone) provide the dense bush, wooded savannah, and forest habitats they prefer. Though nimble, kudus lack the speed and stamina to escape predators in pursuit over an open landscape, so they leap through shrubs and trees to shake off pursuers. Their best defense is keen eyesight and hearing. When a predator approaches, a female kudu barks an alarm to warn of danger and give the herd a head start in the chase.
While not endangered, the Greater Kudu faces constant threats to its survival from lions, leopards, wild dogs, hyenas, and humans. Humans hunt kudus for their meat, hides, and horns. Grilled kudu, barbecued as a traditional South African braai, appears on the menus of restaurants humble and fancy as far away as Cape Town. In other words, kudu is everyone’s favorite meal. In addition, Africans have long prized kudu horns for use as musical instruments, honey containers, and symbolic ritual objects. Tourists buy them as exotic objets d’art. As humans burn the bush and woodlands for charcoal and farming, habitat loss shrinks resources for the kudu as well as other wildlife. Perhaps even more devastating, humans kill the predators that keep the ecosystem in balance and health. Overpopulation of grazing herds leads to degradation of the ecosystem and ultimately starvation.
Throughout that day and subsequent safaris, I kept an eye out for the Great Kudu. We came across a number of herds, but few bulls. My best photograph of a bull captured only a glimpse of him fleeing across the bush (hence, the downloaded photo from Wikipedia that heads this post). Even from behind, though, those fantastic horns are unmistakable. An icon of South Africa.
*Africa Spears offers daylong safaris in Kruger for 1650 Rand per person (about $122 as of this writing), which includes park conservation fees.