Reporting Date: 25.10.2011

Female topis come into oestrus for only one day in a year and therefore females complete with each other for mating rights with the dominant males. This means that the females also synchronyze their calving in a short period of time. In fact a vast majority of births occur between October and December with half of them occurring in October. For instance, this morning during a early morning game drive we counted up to 8 calves in a harem of 10 females.

Calves can follow their mothers immediately after birth. On the other hand, females separate themselves from the herd to calve and calves commonly seek hiding places during the night especially when not migrating. Infant topis spend their first 3 to 12 days lying out and at about 3 months start growing horns and acquiring adult coloring.The maternal bond between a mother and her calf ends after a year or when she births and new calf. Both yearling males and females form bachelor herds.

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NB: * = Same animals seen by different rangers