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Kobus vardonii (Livingstone, 1857) is a bovid commonly known as the puku. It is a medium-sized antelope with a golden-yellow coat and white underparts, sexually dimorphic as only males carry lyre-shaped horns, and according to current taxonomy it is one of 12 extant species in the genus Kobus. Adult males defend territories, whereas females and young move around in unstable groups. Feeding on a great variety of grasses, K. vardonii occurs in grasslands along rivers and lakes in southern central Africa with Zambia being the center of its distribution and Tanzania holding the largest population. It is classified as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Sympatric occurrence of puku (Kobus vardonii) and impala (Aepyceros melampus) characterises large parts of the protected areas in Zambia. The present study assessed traits of the populations as well as spatial and dietary overlap of both antelopes in Kafue National Park and adjacent Game Management Areas in western Zambia. Data were collected via distance sampling along line transects (population and distribution) and via microhistological analyses of dung (diet). Hunting activities might result in fewer males in both antelopes in the Game-Management areas. During the cool dry season there was considerable spatial overlap between puku and impala. However, puku are more abundant in grassland areas, while impala reach highest population densities in intermediate habitats. The diet of puku was characterised by high amounts of grasses during both the cool dry season and the late rainy season. Impala shifted from browsing during the cool dry season to a more grazing diet during the rainy season. This study found niche partitioning via habitat and diet as a key to understand the coexistence of these antelopes and improves our knowledge of Zambian Wildlife.

Diet and dietary competition among puku (Kobus vardonii) and other grazing bovids were investigated in Kasanka National Park, Zambia, a prime area for puku. The objective was to provide new insights into the puku’s feeding ecology including autecological and synecological traits. Other bovids assessed for their diets were sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii), reedbuck (Redunca arundinum), Lichtenstein’s hartebeest (Alcelaphus lichtensteinii), sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). Dung was collected during different periods in 2009 and 2010 and examined using microhistological analyses. The diets were assessed for potential differences or overlap using the Pianka Index. Puku feed mainly on monocotyledons and consumed Panicum spp., Brachiaria sp., Sporobolus spp. and Hyparrhenia/Andropogon grasses. Differences in dietary composition between sexes were observed, especially during the cool dry season, as well as differences at a temporal and spatial scale. It can be concluded that puku exhibit a flexible diet with regard to grass species. Diet breadth changed throughout the year being narrowest in the late rainy season but showed no sexual differences. The dietary overlap of puku with other grazing bovids was low. This combination contributes to the puku’s extraordinary situation in Kasanka National Park.

Differences in resource selection (i.e., habitat selection and diet composition) may allow for coexistence of interspecific competitors. Two congeneric floodplain antelope with broadly similar habitat use are puku (Kobus vardonii) and lechwe (K. leche). In Botswana, puku are restricted to a narrow band of floodplains along the Chobe River, whereas lechwe are far more abundant, with a distribution encompassing the Chobe Riverfront, the Linyanti Swamps, Kwando River, and the Okavango Delta. We investigated factors to try to explain the contrasting distribution patterns of puku and lechwe, including seasonal diet composition and overlap, seasonal nutritional status as indicated by fecal nitrogen and phosphorus, and habitat selection. Dietary overlap ranged from 84% to 90% across seasons. Cynodon dactylon was the greatest contributor to the diets of both puku and lechwe, but there were differences in the relative contributions of particular grass species associated with uplands or floodplains. Fecal ...

The population of puku, Kobus vardonii, at Lake Rukwa, one of only two in Tanzania, is poorly known. A multi-species dry season game count carried out in Rukwa Game Reserve (RGR) in 2004 estimated a population size of 1729, but was associated with a high margin of error [coefficient of variation (CV) 0.88]. To increase the precision for the local puku population estimate, we conducted a zig-zag line transect survey restricted only to areas occupied by puku in the dry season of 2006. This survey technique produced an estimate of 776 individuals and the CV was considerably reduced to 0.29. Puku herd size was comparable with the studies carried out in the Kilombero valley, Tanzania and in Kasanka National Park, Zambia, thus broadly confirming the herding ecology of this species. We found that pukus were restricted to the central parts of the floodplains, suggesting an avoidance of habitats used by pastoralists at the edge of RGR. Compared with the estimates of the puku population made in the 1980s, the puku population has declined. We recommend regular monitoring and enforcement of the current management plan to conserve the local puku population. Resume Le statut de la population du puku Kobus vardonii au lac Rukwa, une des deux seules populations de Tanzanie, est mal connu. Un denombrement de nombreuses especes animales realise en saison seche dans la Reserve de Faune de Rukwa (RGR) en 2004 a estime la taille de la population a 1 729, mais ce chiffre etait associea une grande marge d’erreur (CV 0,88). Pour ameliorer la precision de l’estimation de la population de pukus, nous avons mene une etude par transect en zigzag limitee aux zones occupees par les pukus, pendant la saison seche de 2006. Cette technique d’etude a donne une estimation de 776 individus, et la CV etait considerablement reduite, a 0,29. La taille des hardes de pukus etait comparable a celle relevee dans la vallee de Kilombero, en Tanzanie, et dans le Parc National de Kasanka, en Zambie, confirmant ainsi l’ecologie en harde de cette espece. Nous avons decouvert que les pukus se limitaient aux parties centrales des plaines inondables, ce qui suggere qu’ils evitent les habitats frequentes par les pasteurs a la limite de la Reserve de Faune de Rukwa. Comparee aux estimations de cette population de pukus realisees dans les annees 1980, cette population a decline. Nous avons recommande d’assurer un suivi regulier et d’appliquer le plan de gestion actuel pour conserver la population locale de pukus.

Ex-situconservancies are expanding alternatives to livestock production in Zambia albeit the lack of information on circulating infectious parasites from wildlife. Therefore, 12 wildlife species were examined on a game ranch were all species were found to be infected byRhipecephalusspp. Haemoparasite infections were estimated at 7.37% (n=95) withBabesiaspp. detected in bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus);Anaplasma marginalein impala (Aepyceros melampus) and puku (Kobus vardonii) for the first time in Zambia. The majority of worm species isolated from bovids were not detected in equids and,vice versa. Our findings intimate ecological and behavioural patterns of some animals as deterministic to exposure. Kafue lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) had the widest range of worm species with more infected organs than other animals suggesting their semi aquatic nature contributory to prolonged worm exposure compared to other animals. On the other hand, Kafue lechwe had the least tick infections attributable more to shorter attachment periods as they spend prolonged periods submerged in water. Our findings indicate the vital role that wildlife plays in the epidemiology of parasitic diseases. To reduce the infection burden, control measures should be focused on reducing transmission to highly susceptible animal species as described herein.

Babesia spp. were detected from 4 asymptomatic pukus captured on a game ranch in central Zambia in October 2008. Blood smears were examined in 4 species of aymptomatic free-ranging antelopes, namely the puku (Kobus vordanii), reedbuck (Redunca arundinum), bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus), and kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), and showed the presence of Babesia parasites only in the puku. In the puku, the prevalence of babesiosis was estimated at 33.3% (n = 12), while the overall prevalence in all examined animals was 8.5% (n = 47). The parasites showed morphological characteristics of paired ring-like stages with the length varying between 1.61 µm and 3.02 µm (mean = 2.12 µm, n = 27; SD = 0.76 µm). Both the infected and non-infected pukus showed good body condition scores (BCS), while the dominant tick species detected from all animals were Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Rhipicephalus spp., and Boophilus spp. To our knowledge this is the first report of Babesia spp. infection in pukus in Zambia. These findings suggest that wildlife could play an important role in the epidemiology of babesiosis in Zambia.

Kobus vardonii (Livingstone, 1857). Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, p. 256. TYPE LOCALITY: Zambia, Barotseland, Chobe Valley, near Libonta (40°30'S, 23°15'E). DISTRIBUTION: S Zaire, Zambia, Malawi and S Tanzania south to N Angola, NE Namibia, N Botswana; vagrant in N Zimbabwe. SYNONYMS: senganus. COMMENTS: Included in kob by Haltenorth (1963:92) but see Ansell (1972:44)., Published as part of Peter Grubb, 1993, Order Artiodactyla, pp. 377-414 in Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London :Smithsonian Institution Press on page 414, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7359189, {"references":["Haltenorth, T. 1963. Klassifikation der Saugetiere: Artiodactyla I. Handbuch der Zoologie, 8 (32): 1 - 167.","Ansell, W. F. H. 1972. Order Artiodactyla. Part 15. Pp. 1 - 84, in The mammals of Africa: An identification manual (J. Meester and H. W. Setzer, eds.) [issued 2 May 1972]. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C., not continuously paginated."]}