Bovidae
Author
Don E. Wilson
Author
Russell A. Mittermeier
text
2011
2011-08-31
Lynx Edicions
Barcelona
Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals
444
779
book chapter
58516
10.5281/zenodo.6512484
67b52095-db4b-43f8-a661-4aced0511111
978-84-96553-77-4
6512484
276.
Golden Klipspringer
Oreotragus aureus
French:
Oréotrague de Heller
/
German:
Kenia-Klippspringer
/
Spanish:
Saltarrocas
dorado
Taxonomy.
Oreotragus oreotragus aureus Heller, 1913
,
Mt Lololokwi, north of Northern Guaso-nyiro,
Kenya
.
Formerly considered a synonym of
O. schillingsi
. Monotypic.
Distribution.
Kenyan Highlands and N Ewaso Ng’iro, W through N
Kenya
and also known from the Ankole region in SW
Uganda
.
Descriptive notes.
Head-body
79 cm
(males) and 75-84 cm (females), tail
6 cm
(males) and 7.5-9.
5 cm
(females), ear 9.9-3 cm (both sexes), hindfoot 22-3 cm (males) and 22.5-23.
5 cm
(females). Males are very slightly larger than females, and both sexes are fairly small. Mean skull length is
14 cm
(13.2-14.
7 cm
) in males and 13-7 cm (13.3-14.
1 cm
) in females. Horn length is 8:3-10.
4 cm
. General color is golden yellow, with a very slight difference between the body and the legs. The crown of the head is reddish, in marked contrast to the body color.
Habitat.
The Golden Klipspringer prefers rocky areas,like all klipspringers.
Food and Feeding.
A concentrate selector, like all klipspringers.
Breeding.
There is no specific information available for this species. The gestation length is around five months in other klipspringers.
Activity patterns.
There is no specific information available for this species. Other klipspringers are active in the early morning and more especially in the late afternoon.
Movements, Home range and Social organization.
There is no specific information available for this species. Most klipspringers are strongly territorial, marking the boundaries of their territories with dung piles and secretions from the preorbital glands.
Status and Conservation.
Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List (under
O. oreotragus
).
Oreotragus
taxa, except the Nigerian Klipspringer (O. o. porteoust), are not considered separately by IUCN.
Bibliography.
Groves & Grubb (2011), Kingdon (1982), Roosevelt & Heller (1914).