The Ugandan Kob (Kobus Kob Thomasi) is a subspecies of the Kob, a type of antelope. A Ugandan Kob appears on the coat of arms of Uganda, along with a grey crowned crane (Balearica Regulorum Gibbericeps), representing the abundant wildlife present in the country.
| Mount Type | Kob & Waterbuck Pedestalmount – FF 078, Kob Fullmount – AA009, Kob Fullmount – II0030, Kob Fullmount – II0049 |
|---|
The Kob resembles the Impala but is more heavily built. However, males are more robust than females and have horns. Males have shoulder heights of 90–100 cm (3.0–3.3 ft) and an average weight of 94 kg (207 lb). Females have shoulder heights of 82–92 cm (2.69–3.02 ft) and weigh on average 63 kg (139 lb). The pelage of the Kob is typically golden to reddish-brown overall, but with the throat patch, eye ring, and inner ear being white, and the forelegs being black at the front. Males get darker as they get older. Both sexes have well-developed inguinal glands that secrete a yellow, waxy substance, as well as preorbital glands.
Female Kob can live in herds numbering in the thousands. They move more and are more social than territorial males. Females are at the front of the daily movements to water. Individuals learn where to go from their mothers. However, in larger herds, the females take their signals from other females. Males are also present in the migratory herds and follow the females. All-male herds may number in the hundreds and accompany females as they travel during dry season.
The social and reproductive organization of Kob can vary. When in average or low population densities, males establish conventional territories and do not travel much. Adult males try to establish their territories in the best habitat available, which are inhabited by herds of females and their young. Herds are fluid and change in size and structure as individuals travel to find green vegetation. Other males, particularly young males, live in bachelor herds and are segregated from the females by the territorial males. On floodplains, where Kob are densely populated, around two-thirds of the territorial males establish traditional territories, while the rest live in clustered territories known as leks. These clusters are sometimes smaller than a single traditional territory. Lek clusters are located on patches of short grass or bare ground within comparably tall grassland. As such, these territories have little to no value other than to the males that reside in them. About eight or 9 of every 10 females visit leks to mate, trading spacing and food for mating success. The Kob tends to live in smaller herds consisting of 5 to 15 individual Kob, but herds as many as 40+ have been observed. Females and bachelor males live in large herds of up to 2000 and move through the leks, which are surrounded by high-quality grass and are near waterholes and commonly travelled routes.
Females have their first ovulation at 13–14 months of age and have 20- to 26-day intervals between oestrous cycles until they are fertilized. Males from traditional territories and leks have different courtship strategies. Males of traditional territories will herd females and keep them in their territories. Lek males try to do the same, but usually fail. They have to rely on advertising themselves. Kob courtship may last as short as two minutes, and copulation may only last a few seconds. At leks, a female may mate up to 20 times with at least one of the central males in a day. After an eight-month gestation period and giving birth, oestrus may commence 21–64 days later. For their first month, calves hide in dense vegetation. Mother and calf can identify each other by their noses. As they get older, calves gather into crèches. When they are three to four months old, the young enter the females’ herds and stay with mothers until six to seven months, by which time they are weaned. When they mature, males join bachelors groups.
Kob are an important food source for many larger predators, especially Cheetah, Lion, Hyena, African Wild Dog and sometimes larger snakes.
The Kob (Kobus Kob) is an antelope found across Central Africa and parts of West Africa and East Africa. Found along savanna, as well as grassy areas where they eat grasses. The Kob is currently found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.
Kob taxidermy is the art of preserving the Kob skin and other body parts to produce lifelike sculptures for display, either at home as a hunting trophy or in museums for educational purposes. Skin is preserved and mounted on an artificial armature to display the specimen.
The contemporary English word “taxidermy” is derived from the Greek terms taxis, meaning “movement,” and derma, meaning “skin,” thereby combining these two meanings. This is why, in a broad sense, taxidermy is synonymous with “the motion of skin.”
For expert taxidermists, skills in sculpture, painting, and sketching are just as important as those in carpentry, woodworking, tanning, moulding, and casting.
The remaining parts of the body are synthetic replacements for real organs and tissues. Polyurethane foam is used for the manikin or form, which includes the anatomy of every muscle and vein; glass is used for the eyes; clay is used for the eyelids; for the nose and mouth the foam of the mannequin is sculptured.
Works of taxidermy can be found in a wide range of environments, including museums, classrooms, galleries, stores, restaurants, and private households, due to the complexity and delicate craftsmanship involved in the taxidermy process.
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.
The most successful hunting strategies involve a lot of walking and stalking. You can find the 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.
When making an Kob mount, careful planning is key to getting a high-quality result. When tanning and oiling the skins, only the best chemicals and methods are used. This ensures that the skins will last for many years.
Your preferred form for the Kob will be chosen after taking your measurements into account, and the posture of your form will be changed at no extra cost. Full-mount Kob trophies come with bases made to look like the animal’s natural habitat and made just for the Kob mount.
The taxidermy process at Life-Form takes your prized Kob trophy and gives it a whole new meaning by using only the best materials and drawing on more than 40 years of experience in the field.
When repair is needed, every effort is made to fix cuts and scrapes and lessen bullet damage. Existing scars are left alone unless the client asks for them to be taken away.
Using the helpful tips below, it’s important to take extra care of your prized Kob trophy to make sure it stays in perfect shape for years to come.
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.
