Damaliscus superstes Cotterill 2003

155.

Bangweulu Tsessebe

Damaliscus superstes

French: Sassaby du Bangweulu / German: Bangweulu-Sassaby / Spanish: Topi del Bangweulu

Taxonomy. Damaliscus superstes Cotterill, 2003,

Muku Muku Flats, 12° 21' S, 30° E. Southwest Bangweulu Flats.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Bangweulu district, NE Zambia and the bordering region of Katanga in SE DR Congo. The range is bounded to the N by the Chambeshi and Luapula rivers, and to the S by the Muchinga Escarpment.

Descriptive notes. There are no specific measurements available. Larger than its sister species, the Western Tsessebe (D. lunatus), and the horns are thicker and wider spread, with a broader pedicle. The horns grow symmetrically outward, with the tips curving inward, to form a sphere. The horns are slightly sexually dimorphic; horn length is 35.1-40 cm (males) and 30.4-39. 5 cm (females). Tip-to-tip distance is 22-23. 4 cm (males) and 20-33. 5 cm (females); horn span is 37.8-44. 6 cm (males) and 34.2-43 cm (females). Greatest skull length is 39-43. 5 cm in both sexes, and maxillary tooth row is 83:9-105-3 mm (both sexes). The pelage color is chocolate brown, darker than the Western Tsessebe; the face blaze is black, the shoulder and haunch patches mostly dark blackish-gray. The ears are particularly dark.

Habitat. Like other large species of Damaliscus, the Bangweulu Tsessebe lives in edaphic grasslands.

Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but presumably it is overwhelmingly a grass-feeder like other tsessebe.

Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but it is mostlikely a seasonal breeder.

Activity patterns. There islittle specific information available for this species, but it is diurnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information available forthis species, but it is most likely similar to Western Tsessebe in all of these aspects.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List (as D. lunatus superstes). The Bangweulu Tsessebe appears to have become extinct in Katanga, and the range in Zambia has shrunk, but there are still good populations on the southern half of the Bangweulu Flats.

Bibliography. Cotterill (2003).