Its face has bold white markings with dark lines from the eyes to the mouth, almost like a mask. Both males and females have curved, black horns, but the males’ horns are bigger and thicker. On its backside, a white patch fans out like a flag, flashing whenever it jumps.
When I first spotted a springbok in the wild, I thought it looked like the deer I grew up seeing in Michigan. But the more I looked, the more I realized this animal is unique.
Springboks make their homes in South Africa’s savannas, which have open grasslands with scattered trees. They like areas with short grass, where they can see predators coming from far away. They often wander in herds around dry riverbeds and plains, where they blend in with the golden grasses.
Springboks are plant-eaters. They munch on grasses when they can, but during dry seasons, they switch to nibbling on shrubs and even water-storing succulents. Here’s the amazing part: springboks can live without drinking water for long stretches! They get the water they need from the food they eat and the tiny drops of dew that collect overnight.
Hundreds of years ago, huge herds of springbok, sometimes in the millions, roamed across South Africa. But all of that has changed after springbok were hunted by the farmers whose crops were ruined by the springbok eating crops.
