Black Duiker

Black Duiker
Black Duiker
Cephalophus niger
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Cephalophinae
Genus: Cephalophus
Species: C. niger
Binomial name
Cephalophus niger
Gray, 1846

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). Black duikers have, not surprisingly, a black coat. The head is a rust colour and there is 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 duiker 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.

There are estimated to be around 100,000 black duikers in the world[1]. They are threatened by hunting and are considered to be in decline across their range.

References

  1. ^ a b IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). Cephalophus niger. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 11 May 2008.

External links


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