Black duiker

Black duiker
Cephalophus niger
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Antilopinae
Genus:	Cephalophorus
Species:	C. niger
Binomial name
Cephalophorus niger Gray, 1846
Distribution of Black duiker

The black duiker (Cephalophorus niger), also known as tuba in Dyula, is a forest-dwelling duiker found in the southern parts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria.^{[citation needed]}

The black duiker stands around 500 mm (20 in) tall at the shoulder and weighs 15 to 20 kg (33 to 44 lb). It has, not surprisingly, a black coat. The head is a rust colour with a large red crest between the ears. The black duiker has long, thin horns of 80 to 170 mm (3.1 to 6.7 in), but the horns of females reach only 30 mm (1.2 in).^{[citation needed]}

The black duiker lives mainly in lowland rainforests, where it eats fruit, flowers, and leaves which have fallen from the canopy. It is probably diurnal, though this is surmised only from captive specimens. Black duiker are reported to be solitary, territorial animals.^{[citation needed]}

The mating season of the black duiker is year round, but more offspring are born from November to January. The gestation period lasts 126 days, and is thus comparably short, usually only one young is born. Its average weight is 1.94 kg (4.3 lb); it is weaned around 90 days of age. The birth interval is seven and a half months. In captivity, the black duiker lives up to 14 years.^[2]

An estimated 100,000 black duikers are left in the world; they are threatened by hunting and are considered to be in decline across their range.^[1]

References

1. IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2016). "Cephalophus niger". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T4145A50183437. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T4145A50183437.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. *Th. Haltenorth; H. Diller: Säugetiere Afrikas und Madagaskars. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, ISBN 978 3405 11392 6
   • Jonathan Kingdon: The Kingdon Pocket Guide to Afrikan Mammals. A&C Black Publishers Ltd., London, 2004, ISBN 978 0 7136 6981 7

Further reading

• C. P. Groves & D. M. Leslie, Jr.: Family Bovidae (Hollow-horned Ruminants). In: D. E. Wilson und R. A. Mittermeier (Hrsg.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, 2011 (S. 764–765) ISBN 978-849-655-377-4

External links

• Black duiker (Cephalophus niger) at ultimateungulate