The Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus also the Blesbok) is an antelope found in South Africa and Lesotho. The Bontebok has two subspecies; the Bontebok, occurring naturally in the Fynbos and Renosterveld areas of the Western Cape, and the Blesbok occurring in the highveld. Jump to: navigation, search Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Jump to: navigation, search Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria Placozoa Subregnum Bilateria  Acoelomorpha  Orthonectida  Rhombozoa  Myxozoa  Superphylum Deuterostomia     Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Jump to: navigation, search Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include... Jump to: navigation, search Orders Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Placentalia Afrosoricida Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata (extinct) Perissodactyla Pholidota Plesiadapiformes (extinct) Primates Proboscidea... Families Suidae Hippopotamidae Tayassuidae Camelidae Tragulidae Moschidae Cervidae Giraffidae Antilocapridae Bovidae The even-toed ungulates form the mammal order Artiodactyla. ... Subfamilies Bovinae Cephalophinae Hippotraginae Antilopinae Caprinae A bovid is any of almost 140 species of cloven-hoofed mammals belonging to the family Bovidae. ... Genera  Beatragus  Damaliscus  Alcelaphus  Sigmoceros  Connochaetes The subfamily Alcelaphinae contains Wildebeest, Hartebeest, Bonteboks and several similar species. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Peter Simon Pallas (September 22, 1741 - September 8, 1811) was a German-born Russian zoologist. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Genera Aepyceros Alcelaphus Antidorcas Antilope Cephalophus Connochaetes Damaliscus Gazella Hippotragus Kobus Madoqua Neotragus Oreotragus Oryx Ourebia Pantholops Procapra Sylvicapra Taurotragus Tragelaphus and others The antelope are a group of herbivorous African animals of the family Bovidae, distinguished by a pair of hollow horns on their heads. ... In zoology, as in other branches of biology, subspecies is the rank immediately subordinate to a species. ... Fynbos (Afrikaans for fine bush) is the natural vegetation occurring in a small belt of South Africa, mainly in the South-western Cape. ... The Highveld is a high plateau area of South Africa which includes the largest metropolitan area in the country, Johannesburg. ...

The Bontebok stands 80 to 100 centimetres at the shoulder and weighs 50 to 90 kilograms. The Bontebok is a chocolate brown colour, with a white underside and a white stripe from the forehead to the tip of the nose, although there is a brown stripe across the white near the eyes in most Blesbok. The horns of Bontebok are lyre-shaped and clearly ringed they are found in both sexes and can reach a length of half a metre.

Blesbok live in highveld where they eat short grasses, while Bontebok are restricted to coastal Fynbos and Renosterveld (Skead 1980). They are diurnal, though they rest during the heat of the day. Herds contain only males, only females or are mixed and do not exceed forty animals for Bonteboks or seventy for Blesboks. In popular language grass means a short, green, ground covering or lawn, usually, but not necessarily comprised of a true grass or grasses, called turf. ... ...

Bontebok are not good jumpers but they are very good at crawling under things. Mature males form territories and face down other males in displays and occasionally combat.

Bontebok were killed as pests and were reduced to seventeen animals in the wild but have recovered. Blesbok are extinct in their natural habitat but they have increased in population to the point where they are now farmed. Look up Pest on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Pest may refer to: A pest, an animal (usually an insect), or sometimes a plant (weed) with characteristics that are injurious or harmful to humans. ... Habitat (from the Latin for it inhabits) is the place where a particular species lives and grows. ... Bales of hay on a farm near Ames, Iowa A farm is the basic unit in agriculture. ...

References

• SKEAD, C.J. 1980. Historical mammal incidence in the Cape Province Volume 1. The Department of Nature and Environmental Conservation of the Provincial Administration of the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town.

External links and references

• Africa Animal Database