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A Duiker (Cephalophinae) consists of 21 small to medium-sized antelope species. The name comes from the Dutch word “diver” because they are known to dive into tangles of Shrubbery. Duiker vary in size, Grey Duiker range from the 15-18 kg, Blue Duiker 3,5-9 kg, Red Duiker 12 kg to the larger Yellow-backed Duiker 45-80 kg.
The Common Duiker (Sylvicapra Grimmia), also known as the Grey Duiker or Bush Duiker, is a small antelope and the only member of the genus Sylvicapra.
Colouration of this species varies widely over its vast geographic range. There are 14 subspecies described, ranging from chestnut in forested areas of Angola to grizzled grey in northern savannahs and light brown shades in arid regions. It grows to about 50 cm (20 in) in height and generally weighs 12 to 25 kg (26 to 55 lb); females are generally larger and heavier than the males. Only the male has horns and these can grow to 11 cm (4.3 in) long.
Grey Duiker are active early in the morning, in the evening, and at night. During the warm parts of the day, they stay bedded down in their resting locations. Females will rest near logs or tree trunks where they can be well hidden, while males rest in places that are more elevated where they can have a better view of the surrounding area. Grey Duiker spend their time singly and only come together to mate. Males and females are both territorial. The territories of same sex animals have a small degree of overlap. There is a larger amount of overlap between that of opposite sex animals, a loose bond existing between the male and the female that share some territory. They mark their territories with scent from their preorbital gland and also by vegetation that has been horned by males. Females will chase and butt females that intrude into their territory. Males display threatening postures towards intruding males, including stalking and low-horn displays. If such behaviour does not drive away intruding males, fights may occur, where males chase each other and stab with their horns. The animal that loses runs away or will lie down in submission.
These animals form monogamous breeding pairs. This means that one male mates and lives only with one female. No evidence for a peak breeding period has been found. Females are known to produce young at any time of the year, gestation period of 6 to 7.5 months. A female will seek out very secluded and thick cover for the birth. Normally one young is born, though sometimes there are two. Newborns are well developed when born and are able to run within a period of twenty-four hours. Both parents look after them. Young are weaned at 2 months of age and reach adult size in 6 months. Females attain reproductive maturity at 8-9 months and males at 12 months of age.
The Grey Duiker has a wide diet; beyond browsing for leaves, flowers, fruits and tubers, they will also eat insects, frogs, small birds and mammals, and even carrion. As long as they have vegetation to eat (from which they get some water), they can go without drinking for very long periods. In the rainy season, they will frequently not drink water at all, instead obtaining fluids from fruits. They will often scavenge for these fruits below trees in which monkeys are feeding. They are active both day and night, but become more nocturnal near human settlements, presumably due to the presence of feral dogs and humans.
They are taken by all the medium to large predators but their main predators are Eagle, Leopard, Jackal and Python. The lifespan of a Grey Duiker is 8-11 years.
The Red Forest Duiker, Natal Duiker, or Natal Red Duiker (Cephalophus Natalensis) is a small antelope found in central to southern Africa. It is one of 22 extant species form the subfamily Cephalophinae. While the Red Forest Duiker is very similar to the Common/Grey Duiker it is smaller in size and has a distinguishing reddish colouring. Additionally, the Red Forest Duiker favours a denser bush habitat than the Common/Grey Duiker. The Natal Red Duiker is more diurnal and less secretive than most forest Duikers, so therefore it is easier for them to be observed. In 1999, Red Forest Duiker had an estimated wild population of 42,000 individuals.
Red Forest Duiker have a body length of up to 1 m (3.3 ft), a typical shoulder height of 43 cm (17 in), and an average mass of 14 kg (31 lb). Both sexes have short, straight horns about 6 cm (2.4 in) long, although in females they may be smaller in size. Towards the base, the horns have coarse rings and longitudinal striations, but they are smooth towards the tips. The longest recorded length of horns for the Red Forest Duiker is 11 cm (4.3 in). The Red Forest Duiker has an extraordinary jumping ability when compared to other ungulates, easily clearing 1.3 meter tall fence.
The Red Forest Duiker is a rich reddish-brown in colour, although the underparts are typically paler. The hairs on the chin, throat, and insides of the ears are commonly a shade of white. A tuft of reddish-brown and black hairs grow between the horns, and the tail has a white tip.
A notable characteristic of the Natal Red Duiker appearance is its hunched back, with front legs shorter than the hind legs. These longer hind legs are in a crouched position, which serves as an advantage when the Duiker senses danger and needs to flee by allowing the individual to leap quickly into nearby bush.
Red Forest Duiker browse on leaves, flowers, and fruits that have fallen from trees as well as low-growing shrubs. This usually occurs during daylight, although in heavily disturbed areas Duikers can become nocturnal. They are concentrate feeders, as they do not have the ability to digest fibre well.
Red Forest Duiker tend to roam singly, in pairs, or small family groups, and it is rare to see a group of more than three individuals. The cry of red forest Duikers is rather distinctive, loud, and penetrating, sounding somewhere between a snort and a whistle. The call of a Duiker becomes a throaty cry when the animal is distressed. When the Duiker has been spotted by a predator, it will first freeze, and then bound away with the characteristic Duiker diving motion into the safety of the thick bush. Some of the common predators of the Red Duiker include Eagle, Python and Leopard.
On average, the gestation period for a Red Duiker is about 8 months. When the young are born, they are a reddish-black, with a reddish-brown face. Usually a single calf is born, at any time of year. The young weigh about one kilogram at birth, and they will stay with their mother for approximately six to eight months. Males are not involved in rearing young, but nonetheless both sexes will respond to a distress call from the calf. Red Forest Duiker have a potential longevity of 9 years, although some have lived up to 15 years in captivity.
The Blue Duiker is a small antelope; in fact, it is the smallest Duiker. The head-and-body length is typically between 55 and 90 centimetres (22 and 35 in). It reaches 32–41 centimetres (13–16 in) at the shoulder and weighs nearly 3.5–9 kilograms (7.7–19.8 lb). Sexually dimorphic, the females are slightly larger than the males. The Blue Duiker is characterised by a flat forehead, large eyes, small ears with a line of white, large nostrils, a broad mouth and agile lips. The dark tail measures slightly above 10 centimetres (3.9 in). A remarkable feature of the tail is the row of white crinkly hairs on either flank that reflect light efficiently, so that when the animal moves its tail up and down, it looks like a luminous signal in the dark habitat. The Blue Duiker has short, spiky horns, around 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long and hidden in hair tufts. A row of minute pores surrounded by a few hairs in the preorbital glands (near the eyes) secrete an opaque liquid consisting of 45 volatile compounds. The pedal glands (near the hooves) produce a pungent, whitish fluid.
The Blue Duiker bears a significant resemblance to Maxwell’s Duiker. However, the latter is nearly twice as large and heavy as the former, with a larger skull. While coloration is more uniform in Maxwell’s Duiker, the Blue Duiker shows two different colorations. Another point of difference is the pedal gland (in the hooves), which has a simpler opening in the blue Duiker. Walter’s Duiker is notably lighter in colour; the flanks are brown instead of grey
The Blue Duiker is diurnal (active during the day). Secretive and cautious, it confines itself to the forest fringes. Territorial, individuals of opposite sexes form pairs and occupy territories, nearly 0.4–0.8 hectares (0.0015–0.0031 sq mi) large and marked by preorbital gland secretions. The animal rubs the preorbital glands on trees and logs to mark its territory with the fluid produced by the glands. A vocal bovid, bird-like chirps denote curiosity in the animal. It can let out yowls typical of cats if distressed. A female not in oestrus will avoid the male’s advances, and may even let out a whistling call.
The diet consists of fallen fruits, foliage, flowers and pieces of bark, provided mainly by the forest canopies in their habitat. Fungi, resin particularly exudates from animal matter such as ants (which are licked from the ground) may also be included in the diet. The Blue Duiker can sustain itself on dead foliage better than other Duiker species. A 1990 study analysed 12 stomachs and determined the content of dicotyledonous leaves to be 70%, while fruits and seeds comprised 23% of the diets and fresh foliage was plenty and perennial. Fruits were, however, strongly preferred to foliage. They may forage by tracking the movements of birds and monkeys.
Blue Duiker are easily preyed upon by many animals, including are the Leopard, Hyena, Wild Dog, African Golden Cat and other smaller Wild Cat, Civet, Eagle, Crocodile and Baboon.
The age when sexual maturity is gained has been given differently by different studies. Females become mature before 13 months, and the minimum age was found to be eight months. Males take longer to mature, nearly 11 to 14 months. The species is monogamous, with pairs remaining together throughout the year. The length of the gestational period has been estimated from as short as four months to as long as seven months. Births may occur throughout the year, though the birth rate might fall in the dry season. The calf can start moving about on its own within 20 minutes of birth, and is nursed thrice a day. It is kept in hiding for most of the time. The nursing intervals become irregular towards weaning, which occurs at 2.5 to 3 months. Males visit their mates occasionally, though they disappear for about a month after the calf’s birth to probably protect the calf. A postpartum oestrus occurs three to five days after the birth.
The Yellow Backed Duiker (Cephalophus Silvicultor) is a shy, forest-dwelling antelope of the order Artiodocatyla, from the family Bovidae. Yellow Backed Duiker are the most widely-distributed of all Duikers.
Yellow Backed Duiker have a convex body shape, standing taller at the rump than the shoulders. They have very short horns, 8.5 to 21 cm (3.3 to 8.3 in) in length, which are cylindrical and ribbed at the base. An orange crest of hair can be found between their horns. Yellow Backed Duiker get their name from the characteristic patch of yellow hairs on their rump, which stand when the Duiker is alarmed or feels threatened. Yellow Backed Duiker females often grow to be slightly larger than males. Coloration is very similar between sexes and very little sexual dimorphism exists. The head-and-body length is 115 to 145 cm (45 to 57 in), with a short tail measuring 11 to 18 cm (4.3 to 7.1 in). The Yellow Backed Duiker weighs in at about 60–80 kg, making it the largest of its genus. It has a large mouth, throat and jaw musculature.
Yellow Backed Duiker are mainly forest dwelling and live in semi-deciduous forests, rain forests, riparian forests, and montane forests. However, they can be found in open bush, isolated forest islands, and clearings on the savannah as well. Their convex body shape is well-suited for forest living. It allows for quick movement through thick forest and bush and is reflective of ungulates accustomed to diving quickly into the underbrush for cover. In fact, Duiker is the Afrikaans word for “diver.”
Yellow Backed Duiker are very flighty and easily stressed, and when frightened or pursued will run almost blindly from a threat. In captivity, Yellow Backed Duiker have been known to form stress-induced jaw abscesses.
Yellow Backed Duiker are active at all times of the day and night. They live mainly solitarily or in couples, rarely in even small herds. Their elusive habits mean that very little is known about their ecology and demography compared to other ungulates.
The Yellow Backed Duiker can breed throughout the year, with many breeding two times each year. The female gives birth to one young (two offspring after a gestation period of 4 to 7 months). The calf remains hidden during the first week of life and is weaned at 3 to 5 months after birth. Sexual maturity happens at 12 to 18 months in the male, and at 9 to 12 months in the female. The lifespan is 10 to 12 years in the wild, while 22.5 years in the captivity.
The Yellow Backed Duiker is more efficient at digesting poor quality food than most other Duiker species. This allows them to eat large, low quality fruits. Their diet makes them very hard to keep in captivity as most domesticated fruits are not well suited to their low fibre requirements. They are considered concentrate selectors, meaning they eat “diets relatively low in fibre, have a well-developed ability to forage selectively, a rumen bypass, a rapid passage and high fermentation rate for starch, and they frequently encounter toxins.” Yellow Backed Duiker are one of the few antelopes that can eat meat. Occasionally, these forest antelopes will kill and eat small animals, such as birds.
The main Predators of the Yellow Backed Duiker include: Leopard, Python, Crocodile, Civet.
This species is found everywhere in Africa, south of the Sahara, excluding the Horn of Africa and the rainforests of the central and western parts of the continent. Generally, they are found in habitats with sufficient vegetation cover to allow them to hide – Savannah and hilly areas, including the fringes of human settlements.
Red Forest Duiker reside in forest and dense bush habitats in both mountainous and coastal areas, where surface water is readily available. This species can be found in southeastern Tanzania, Malawi, extreme northeastern Zambia, Mozambique, Eswatini, southern Zimbabwe and northeastern South Africa.
This species can survive in a variety of forests, including old-growth, secondary and gallery forests. Forests are preferred as these provide the animal with shelter through the dense understory and forage through canopy. They can also be found in pockets of degraded and regenerated forests from the sea level up to an altitude of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). This Blue Duiker can be found in several countries in the western, southern and eastern parts of Africa: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Yellow Backed Duiker are mainly forest dwelling and live in semi-deciduous forests, rain forests, riparian forests, and montane forests. Yellow Backed Duiker are the most widely-distributed of all Duikers. They are found mainly in Central and West Africa, ranging from Senegal and Gambia on the western coast, through to the DRC to western Uganda; their distribution continues southward into Rwanda, Burundi and most of Zambia.
Planning carefully is the key to a good Duiker taxidermy job. When tanning and oiling the hides, the best chemicals and methods in the world are used to make sure they will last for generations. At Lifeform Taxidermy, we carefully choose our forms to make sure they fit well, and we’ll even custom make the forms according to any instruction, you may have in mind, at no extra cost. Full-mount trophies come with standard natural habitat bases that are made just for them. We use only the best materials and our 40 years of experience in the field to give your trophies new meaning. The finished trophies look life-like. When repair is needed, every effort is made to repair cuts and scrapes while keeping bullet damage to a minimum. Skin preparation and storage tips for a flawless Duiker trophy.
Take care of your trophy before you bring it to the taxidermist – field preparation is the most important start. As soon as you take the hit on your trophy, it starts to rot, and the heat of Africa speeds up the decaying process. The hunter must not drag the body of the animal from the site where it was shot to the waiting hunting truck. The trophy should be protected from the hot metal bed of the hunting truck with a thick layer of cut grass or leaves.
So that nothing goes wrong, the skinning needs to start right away. Remove all of the meat, fat, dirt, and blood from the skin. Clean the skin well. After that, allow the skin to drip dry for a short time, it should then be salted. It is recommended to soak the skin in a salt solution for at least five hours and ideally overnight. Use about 20 kg of salt per 100 litres of water. After taking the skin out of the solution, salt it while it is still flat and flesh side up on a clean surface. To get the full effect of the salt, it needs to be absorbed into the skin all over, into all the crevice’s, especially around the facial features. Put the skin in the shade with a layer of salt on it. After 24 hours, dry the cape. Fold with the hair and ears in when it’s dry. To stop insect damage, pesticides must be sprayed on the skin and in the storage area.
Attempting to bag a Grey Duiker in Africa can be a daunting task. This little antelope can see, smell, and react very quickly. The Duiker can be killed with virtually every hunting rifle, from a.223 to a.375. Since they are typically a “target of opportunity” when hunting for other species, whatever firearm the hunter happens to have handy will end up being the weapon of choice. Intentional Duiker hunting is best done with a shotgun, as most shots will be taken at close range on a moving animal. The high heart/lung shot is taken by aiming for a side target and firing straight up the foreleg, right below the animal’s midline.
Despite their lack of size and danger, Duikers are a formidable foe to hunt. A hunt for Red Duikers in the woodland will put your patience to the test but is well worth it. Red Duiker, because of their size, make great full mounts, especially when mounted with a small amount of their local habitat. Although skull mounts have a place in a Duiker collection, the true size and beauty of your Duiker trophy variations will only be revealed when they are fully mounted. In addition, remember that Red Duikers are one of the “Tiny Ten” (pygmy) species of animals.
The. 243 Winchester is ideal for hunting Red Duiker in Africa. The hide is vulnerable to expansion bullets fired at high velocities. The Red Duiker is a little creature that uses swift vanishing tactics, therefore shots must be taken quickly. A shotgun is preferable due to the short range (about 30–45 yards).
Having a lot of patience is essential for hunting Blue Duiker in Africa. They are quiet and rarely give their whereabouts away by movement. Finding this little buck can be tough because he prefers to be alone, stays out of sight, rarely makes any noise, and is difficult to hear. They rarely venture far from the worn routes through the thickets that connect their sleeping, eating, and drinking spots. As a result of their extreme timidity, they run for cover at the first sign of trouble.
They utter a loud meow, similar to a cat’s, when they are trapped or disturbed. When alarmed, they run for safety immediately, which means the hunter will have an incredibly short window of opportunity to fire, as the Blue Duiker will only be visible for very short time.
Blue Duiker hunting is best done with a shotgun. While any rifle calibre would do, a hunter’s speed and accuracy are essential. It is customary to aim for the shoulder or the area immediately behind it when hunting, but when taking aim at a Blue Duiker, you may have to make do with a hit anywhere, which can impact the skin and taxidermy.
How you choose an Duiker taxidermy mount depends on things like your budget, wall space, and personal taste. When it comes to the creation of a full mount, we find that considerable discussion with the customer yields the best results. This is due to the fact that each form is given a distinct shape and arrangement.
Life-Form Taxidermy will make an exact copy of the skin as soon as they get all of your mounting instructions. All of the skins are tanned and oiled with high-quality products and methods to make sure they are preserved for years. Each skin is put on a manikin to make sure that it fits well. After the eyes and ears are expertly placed, the skin is sewn by a professional. Before making any last changes, the taxidermist waits until the animal is dry. They put the trophies in crates, and the shipping company hired by the client brings them to the client.
Every year, dust the mounts with a soft brush or compressed air to fluff up the hair. Trophies should be protected from common pests by spraying a light mist of normal aerosol surface pesticide around them. Think about preserving your trophy with Mount Medix Africa. This is a product that Life-Form Taxidermy offers.
Keep trophies in a cool, dry place. Daylight makes the mounts fade over time, so artificial light is better. If there’s too much humidity, open the windows or turn on a fan. Due to salt and tan residue, hair can make moisture beads when the humidity is high. Using a tissue that soaks up water will also soak up the salts.
The pricing of any trophy is subject to the costing stipulated per taxidermy order, quantity of trophies and preferred mounting options, along with additional requirements.
Should you wish to receive a quotation prior to the hunt, the taxidermist can generate such for you. Please contact [email protected]
Taxidermy is an art form that involves a complicated step-by-step process to make sure that each trophy looks just right and is of a high enough quality that it will last your whole life.
The time it takes a taxidermist to mount an animal might range from days to weeks, and possibly several months, depending on the quantity of trophies per taxidermy order, the display preferences, and volumes of client trophies to be produced, simultaneously, per production schedule.
This depends largely on the “what, how, when” factors. A taxidermy order also only becomes available for production scheduling upon receipt of the required deposit and trophy mounting instructions.
