African Ungulates Trivia Quiz

This typical pose might have helped you to identify the springbok, the national animal of South Africa. This medium sized antelope can be identified by the dark stripe along the side of its body, a stripe running from the eye to the mouth and its white face, all of which can be seen in the photo. They are also prone to pronking, or stotting, sudden leaps into the air with all four feet off the ground. The common name, from the Afrikaans language, actually means 'jump' and 'antelope' and it's easy to see why.

Apart from South Africa, springboks can also be seen in Namibia and Botswana. They live in herds and are most active at dawn and dusk.

There are two types of kudu, the greater and lesser with the photo being of the greater kudu. It is one of the larger antelopes with only the eland being taller and is known for its distinctive curved horns, found only in the male. Kudus tend to hide away in thickets and shrubs with the stripes on their coats helping to camouflage them

Greater kudus are found primarily in southern Africa although some do live in northern and eastern Africa. They tend to be solitary animals, with small groups usually consisting of no more than three females and their young. Some males form groups of ten while young becoming more solitary as they grow older.

The distinctive looking okapi belongs to the Giraffidae family and is native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is sometimes known as the forest giraffe and is a relative of the much taller giraffe. It lives only in the rainforest regions of the Ituri Forest and other areas around the River Congo. It is classed as endangered in the wild and several zoos have breeding programmes to boost the numbers.

In the wild, okapis are solitary and only associate with others for breeding purposes. Their coats, which are a dark brown or reddish brown, sometimes even purplish, are oily to provide protection from rain. They do have horns but these can barely be seen as they are covered by skin.

Often described as one of the world's ugliest animals, the warthog can be found in most countries of Africa from Ethiopia in the north to South Africa in the south. They prefer the savannah regions and aren't seen in forested areas. One species, the desert warthog, lives in the Sahara. They are mostly herbivores but will eat small animals occasionally.

The common name comes from the warty growths on their faces which are for protection. They have a distinctive mane running from the head to the tail along the back with the rest of the body covered in bristles. Both males and females have the distinctive double tusks but they are more prominent in the male.

Also called the African buffalo, the cape buffalo is one of Africa's 'Big Five' animals along with the lion, elephant, leopard and black rhinoceros. Cape buffalo are known for their horns which grow across the head to form a shield across the forehead during the first seven year's of the buffalo's life. Both male and female buffalos have horns.

An immensely strong animal, the cape buffalo is a much more dangerous animal than it might seem, although even domesticated cattle can attack if they feel threatened. They form large herds and mostly work on the principle that 'attack is the best form of defence'. They can charge at speeds of up to 50 km (just over 30 mph) and reportedly killed more big game hunters than any other African animal back in the days when hunting was commonplace.

There are four species of oryx, one of which is extinct in the wild, and the one in the photo is the East African oryx, also known as the beisa. Unsurprisingly, it is found in the countries of Africa's eastern regions including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The distinguishing feature of the the oryxes is those magnificent horns, which are both long and straight. Oryxes are related to the gemsbok, and were classed as a sub-species originally. The East African oryx is considered endangered.

The eland is a large antelope with both males and females having horns. The horns spiral (enlarge the photo to see this clearly) with those of the female tending to be both thinner and longer than those of the male. The coats are light brown in young animals, turning darker as they age, becoming blue-gray.

The eland has a wide distribution, from South Africa up as far as Ethiopia and spreading west into parts of Angola. They live in herds, which can contain as many as sixty animals. While habitant loss is a concern in some areas, the eland is classed as being least concern in the first half of the twenty-first century.

These sturdy pigs are found in south and east Africa, including the island of Madagascar. The name is often printed as one word - bushpig - and both versions are common. The coat colour varies from the sandy brown shown in the photo to nearly black, but they all have the white streak down their backs, white on their faces and tufted ears. They are much hairier than most pigs.

They live in groups, they are called sounders, which can contain as many as twenty animals. Their preferred habitat is scrub or forests and they are omnivores. Bush pigs build nests in which to give birth to their piglets - they are described as looking like haystacks in miniature, although they can reach a metre (over three feet) in height and be as wide as three metres (nearly ten feet), so not that small.

Dik-diks are one of the smaller species of antelope - not the smallest as there are pygmy antelopes and a species no bigger than a hare - but they are the smallest that you are likely to see. Females are actually slightly bigger than males. Because of their size, they find it easy to hide and this is their main defence mechanism rather than trying to outrun predators.

They have evolved to not need water, being able to obtain all the liquid they need from food, which includes fruit and foliage. They do need to consume a lot of food as they have a higher than average metabolism rate. The name of dik-dik is believed to originate from the sounds made by a frightened female animal of the species.

Also known as the gnu, the name of wildebeest means exactly what it sound like, being the the Dutch for 'wild beast'. There are two main species, the black and the blue wildebeest, with the black one being easily distinguished by its white tail. They are closely related and their ranges overlap to an extent. They are found in the southern parts of Africa including Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa. The wildebeest has a large body, supported by surprisingly skinny legs.

They are well known for their large scale migrations in the Serengeti as huge herds of animals, which include other species such as zebras and smaller antelopes, move in search of fresh vegetation. The migrations are continual and follow a set pattern.