Dik-dik

 Welcome! If you are looking for one of the cutest animals to roam the African grasslands, you have come to the correct place.  When many of you think of animals from Africa, usually what comes to mind are lions, cheetahs, elephants, and giraffes.  Hopefully after reading our webpage, you will gain an appreciation for the dik-dik. 

 

Figure 1. dik-dik laying in the brush. Photo by Frank Snykers.

The dik-dik is a small antelope that weighs approximately 6 – 14 pounds (Scheibe, 1999).  They stand at the shoulder 300-400 mm, their body length is 500-700 mm, and their tail length is 30-60 mm long (MacDonald, 1985).   There are four different species of dik-diks: Madoqua gunther, Madoqua kirkii, Madoqua piacentinii, and Madoqua saltiana.  All of them are closely related, and live in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa (Scheibe, 1999). The reason the savannas are an ideal home for these animals is because they are herbivores and the vegetation is a great source of food.  The low shrub is also ideal because it offers protection from predators (Scheibe, 1999).

Within this website, you will learn interesting facts on the dik-dik’s Classification, habitat, adaptations, reproduction, interactions with other species, and other interesting facts!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us by visiting our Contact section of the website.

This Website is a project for many biology students at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.  Want to learn about other interesting organisms? Go to the Multiple Organisms homepage.