Jentink's Duiker

Jentink's Duiker
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Cephalophinae
Genus:	Cephalophus
Species:	C. jentinki
Binomial name
Cephalophus jentinki Thomas, 1892

Jentink's Duiker, Cephalophus jentinki, also known as Gidi-Gidi in Krio and Kaikulowulei in Mende, is a forest-dwelling duiker found in the southern parts of Liberia, south-western Côte d'Ivoire, and scattered enclaves in Sierra Leone. It is named in honor of Fredericus Anna Jentink.

Jentink's Duikers stand around 80 centimetres tall at the shoulder and weigh about 70 kilograms, making them the largest species of the duikers. Jentink's Duikers are gray from the shoulders back and dark black from the shoulders forward.^[2] There is a white band going over the shoulders, between the two colours and joining the white underside. Jentink's Duikers have long thin horns, which curl back a little at the ends, and reach between 14 and 21 centimetres.

Jentink's Duiker live mainly in very thick rainforest, where they eat fruit, flowers, and leaves which have fallen from the canopy as well as stems of seedlings, roots, and, to the annoyance of local farmers, palm nuts, mangos, and cocoa pods. Jentink's Duiker are nocturnal and shelter during the day in dense thickets, or buttress roots, apparently in pairs. Jentink's Duiker are reported to be territorial animals, and when frightened will run very quickly but wear themselves out easily.

The species was first recognized as a new species in 1884, though it was not described until 1892.^[2] The species then vanished until a skull was found in Liberia in 1948. Sightings have occurred in its habitat since the 1960s. In 1971, the species was successfully bred in the Gladys Porter Zoo.^[2]

There are estimated to be 3,500 Jentink's Duikers in the world. They are threatened primarily by habitat destruction and commercial bushmeat hunters.^[2]

References

1. ^ IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). Cephalophus jentinki. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification for considering this species endangered.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 261. ISBN 0-06-055804-0.