Blue buck
Blue buck in LOST ZOO
The Blue buck is the first large African mammal to disappear in historic times.
Main color of the Blue buck is grey-blue, the belly and the inner side of the legs are white. The head has whitish markings. There is no sexual dimorphism in the color, but only in the body size and in the length of the horns.
It had a relatively long, strong neck, long white legs and a long tail, up to the hock, with a dark horse-like whisk.
Because both sexes have horns and dominance hierarchies based on age and individual prowess were vigorously maintained by both sexes.
The Blue buck lives on the coastal plains of the southwestern Cape Province. This antelope can be observed only in grasslands with extensive marshes and open areas with perennial tuft grasses and little hillside scrub, because it is a selective grazer of medium to long, perennial tuft grasses.
The Blue buck was already on its way to extinction, when Europeans settled in the Cape Colony in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its range was already small and restricted to such grassland areas.
Height at withers: 102-116 cm
Height at croup: 99-115 cm
Body length: 95-113 cm
Footprint: 88 x 48 cm
Total length: 250-300 cm (buck), 230-280 cm (cow).
Body weight: about 160 kg (adult buck)
Habitat: Southwestern coastal region in grasslands with extensive marshes and open areas with tuft grasses, up to 2.400 m above sea level.
Extinction: Although already rare in the 18th century, the European settlers hunted the Blue buck for its skin and converted its habitat for agricultural land purpose. In 1800, the last Blue buck in the Cape Province was killed.
