The kob is an antelope found across Central Africa and parts of West Africa and East
Africa. Together with the closely related reedbucks, waterbucks, lechwe, Nile lechwe, and
puku, it forms the Reduncinae tribe.
| Mount Type | Kob & Waterbuck Pedestalmount – FF 078, Kob Fullmount – AA009, Kob Fullmount – II0030, Kob Fullmount – II0049 |
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• Mass: 80 kg,
• Scientific name: Kobus kob
• Gestation period: 255 days
Thorough preparation is the key factor to ensuring a high-quality final product. All hides are tanned and oiled using the world’s very best available chemicals and processes to ensure permanence and longevity.Forms are selected to ensure the best fit and posture will be altered to suit you, the client’s preference without additional cost. Natural habitat bases are custom-made for full mount trophies without additional cost.Only the finest materials and 40 years of professional experience are used in defining your trophies in a whole new way. The final trophies are almost Life-Formed. When the restoration is required, every effort is made to repair cuts and abrasions, and to minimise bullet damage. Natural scarring is kept unless otherwise requested.
Habitat: Kobs prefer habitats in close proximity to water. Some of the different ecosystems
that they inhabit include floodplains, woodland edges, savanna and grassland. They avoid
areas with dense tree cover, like woodlands and forests.
It’s easy to mistake this antelope for an impala, yet the two are actually unrelated. The common Ugandan kob is a rusty brown colour, although the several subspecies exhibit a wider range of tones. A black stripe runs down the middle of each foreleg, and the underside of the body is white. The Kob has a white ring around each eye and a white patch or chevron on the throat. Males are the only ones to grow horns, which are lyre-shaped but shorter, thicker, and ringed nearly to the tip.
This particular subspecies originated in East Africa. It is found in the western part of South Sudan, Uganda, and the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its former range included the grasslands on the shores of Lake Victoria in northwest Tanzania and parts of southwestern Kenya, but today it is extinct there.
The Ugandan kob is a herbivore that prefers a diet of grasses and reeds. Females and juvenile males travel in small, mobile groups that forage along rivers and in valley bottoms when food becomes available. According to reports, during the dry season one party in South Sudan travelled between 150 and 200 kilometres. Males who don’t take part in reproduction will sometimes band together.
The Central African or Buffon kob is found in the Central African Republic and northern Cameroon, whereas the Western kob is found in the southern regions of Cameroon, Benin, and Burkina Faso. According to SCI, the difference in specie is due to size discrepancies between Central African and West African specimens. Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Cameroon are all good places to go on a western kob hunt. If your “western” kob was hunted in CAR or northern Cameroon, it is no longer a “western” kob, but a Central African or Buffon’s kob. Uganda is home to the Unganda Kob. White-eared kob live in south-west Ethiopia, but they are not allowed to be hunted.
The most successful hunting strategies involve a lot of walking and stalking. You can find them Kob out in the open, therefore it’s best to sneak up on them by walking along the reedbed or tree line borders, utilising these as cover while staying in the shadows and checking them regularly with your binoculars. It is important to carefully organise your approach once you spot a good ram because there is usually little cover. It’s possible, though, that they’re naturally curious and frequently turn around to look in the opposite direction, providing hunters a good opportunity to fire. The kob antelope’s shot placement is similar to that of other plains game antelope. Long, thick-based horns are prized as trophy hunting trophies.
Kob taxidermy is the preservation of the skin and body of a Kob. The skin is tanned and then shaped to resemble the animal in a manner as similar as possible to the real thing. The finished mount may be shown as art, used as a teaching tool, or kept as a trophy.
At Life-Form, we consider a trophy to be authentic if, upon first glance and touch, it is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. Creating a magnificent taxidermy mount of a Kob requires meticulous preparation. We make trophies that will last for generations by using our over 40 years of experience and the best materials we can find.
Preparing a kob skin for taxidermy is an intricate process that requires precision and skill for the best potential outcome.
The first step in the preparation of a kob skin for taxidermy is the immediate removal of the skin from the animal once it has been killed. This ensures that the skin does not become compromised. It’s important to make sure that the skin comes off in one piece that goes from the head to the legs.
The second stage is to salt the skin. This will help get the skin ready for taxidermy by getting it dry. While applying salt to the skin, it is especially important to focus on the ears and nose, which deteriorate more rapidly than the rest of the body. The next step is to let the skin air dry for a few days.
Once dry, thoroughly clean the skin to get rid of any remaining dirt and debris. A gentle brush or a moist cloth can do the trick. Any traces of salt should be eliminated immediately. The skin should be hung for a few days to allow for thorough drying.
A great trophy is the result of thorough consultation with our clients and meticulous planning. To keep the skin from becoming dry and brittle, we use chemical processes like tanning. Next we make a mould for the kob mount. The shape and dimensions of this mannikin made of foam or fibreglass should mimic that of the kob.
The skin is carefully sewn onto the mould with the seams and patterns properly aligned. Wrinkles can be avoided and a more natural appearance achieved by pulling the skin taut over the mannikin.
Glass or plastic eyes are mounted in the socket after a mould is taken of the eye socket.
The fur is then arranged and any other embellishments are added to complete the impala’s convincing appearance. Because of this, the mount may need to have horns, teeth, hooves, or some other feature added to it.
The trophy should be kept in a cool, shady spot outside. Keep it dry by isolating it from any potential sources of condensation.
If you plan on storing the trophy, do it in a cool, dark place away from any sources of heat or sunlight. The trophy should not be kept in a damp or humid location, since this could encourage the formation of mould or mildew.
Always keep an eye out for signs of wear and tear on the trophy. The sooner issues are fixed after being discovered, the less likely they are to cause irreparable damage to the trophy. You can have confidence that Medix Africa, a product used and sold by Life-Form Taxidermy, will maintain the integrity of your trophy.
The price of your trophy will depend on how challenging your taxidermy request is, how many trophies you want mounted, and what kind of mount you want. Get the best prices in South Africa by getting in touch with us.
The time it takes to mount an animal can range from a few days to almost 18 months, depending on how complicated the mount is, how busy our taxidermists are, and what your ideal trophy should like.
