Kudu Greater – Up to 54″

(Latin = Tragelaphus strepsiceros , Afrikaans = Koedoe, German = Kudu Grosser)

Numbers: High
Weight: 150 -300 kg (330 – 660 lb)
Shoulder height: 130 cm (52 in.)
Females horns: No

Found all along the northern border of South Africa, from the most north-eastern tip of the Northern Cape, and abundantly in the warmer northern area (Bushveld) of the Northern Province, as well as in the whole Lowveld area of Mpumalanga, across Swaziland and in the northern areas of KwaZulu-Natal as well. Found also in the north-eastern North Cape near Kimberley, and again in a vast area of the Eastern Cape Province’s midlands.

Many a safari was planned in search for this exceptional hunting experience. The Kudu is undoubtedly, of all the big antelope, the one that is hunted the most in South Africa. It is a wonderful artist-of-the-bush. It prefers the very dense bush and enjoys the leaves and fruits of the Bushveld trees. The kudu’s big ears are fine-tuned to hear the faintest unfamiliar sound. It isn’t easy to surprise the Kudu in his own habitat, making a hunt all the more exciting and fair. The kudu can sense danger easily : when he’s under no threat, he will be standing as if he allows the spectator a glance at his grandeur, yet, when you try to outsmart him as a hunter, he will bark out loud, sprint right through the thickest bush, tilting his head backward for the branches to slide past his long horns, and be out of reach again.The young kudu will be brownish-grey, while the older kudu turns more grey and, especially the grand old bulls, later becomes a grey-blue royalty of the bush with massive curled, wide spiraling horns, a real sought after elite trophy! Fierce fighting between males have more than once, caused their long horns to interlock, resulting in a slow and painful death for both.