The stance and attitudes of the springbok are found to be similar to those of other gazelles. Gaits used are a rack-like walk (passgang), a trot and a gallop; display trot, the stott and the pronk are considered to be ritualised gaits of increa~ing intensity. Urination and defecation and comfort behaviour are described. Social behaviour is discussed and mixed herds, bachelor herds and solitary territorial males are shown to occur. Territorial marking is performed by taking up conspicuous positions, horn sweeping and ritualised defecation-urination. Mating behaviour resembles that of other gazelles and harem herds are common although some copulation was seen in larger groups. Agonistic behaviour involves little ritual display. Females and young form temporary herds; the young lie out and thereafter associate in "kindergarten" group!>. Communication is by various calls and by visual signals of which the erection of the dorsal fan is the most striking. Morning and evening peaks of activity occur.Previous studies of food eaten are reviewed and the results of rumen sample analysis presented. Karroid shrubs and the leaves of several bushes and trees were found to be the dominant food in June and July. Springbok drink but can survive in waterless areas. Open or semi-open habitats are preferred and the factors influencing the preference are discussed.In a previous publication (Bigalke 1970), some results of a general study of the springbok, Antidorcas marsupia/is, were presented. The account dealt with body weight, reproduction, herd composition and the structure of several populations. The purpose of this paper is to describe various aspects of springbok behaviour observed in the course of the same study. Particular attention is given to the composition of the diet, as deduced from analysing rumen samples collected during the winter months.Since the field work was terminated in 1964, a general account of the behaviour of the gazelles, among which the springbok is included, has appeared (Walther 1968). The springbok was not studied in detail and observations were confined to captive animals. Despite these limitations, there is close agreement between the behaviour patterns described for the gazelles in general, and for the springbok in particular, and my own findings.Walther uses the term 'gazelle' for the six genera Anti/ope, Antidorcas, Procapra, Gazella, Ammodorcas, and Litocranius. He regards them as members of the bovid subfamily Gazellinae, sensu Haltenorth (I 963), except that this author separates Ammodorcas from the other fivewhich Walther considers a mistake. Walther equates his Gazellinae with the traditional subfamily Antilopinae.In the most recent taxonomic account of the African Bovidae, Ansell (I 968) rejects Halternorth's terminology and reverts partly to Simpson's ( 1945) classification, using subfamily Antilopinae with the tribes Antilopini and Neotragini. However, Ansell excludes Ammodorcas and Aepyceros, both of which were included in Antilopinae, Antilopini by Simpson.Zoologica Africana 7 (1...

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A study of the ecology of the bushpig (Potamochoerus porcus) showed that there were regional differences in relative investments made in reproduction and maintenance. Southern Cape populations had relatively low reproductive rates, but levels of energy storage and survival rates were high. The reverse applied to eastern Cape populations. The diets of the two populations differed, with a higher ratio of available production nutrients (NPK) to maintenance nutrients (C) in the eastern Cape. A life history model is developed which accommodates these regional differences by linking nutritional characteristics of the diet with metabolic turnover rates. According to this model, the rate of reproductive investment (number of viable young per unit of time) relative to somatic investment (energy storage, survival) is determined by the rate at which production nutrients (NPK) are procurable. For herbivorous animals this depends on the rate at which the nutrients are available to their food plants, which in turn is linked to soil fertility and thus to the geological parent material.

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