Black Lechwe
( Bangweulu Lechwe )
- Kobus leche smithemani
- IUCN Status: Vulnerable
- Trend: increasing
- Avg. Population: 36000
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Artiodactyla
- Family: Bovidae
- Genus: Kobus
Share:
General Information
The black lechwe are endemic to the bangweulu flats and like any other lechwe subspecies they are semi-aquatic.
Fun Facts
The Black lechwe is endemic to Zambia and only found in the wetlands of Bangweulu.
They are the darkest coloured lechwe.
Description
They have a dark, blackish brown coat with a white underbelly. The Black coat is very pronounced as compared to other lechwe subspecies. The coat is greasy and water-repellent. They have slightly smaller horns than the kafue lechwe. The horns are only found on males and are long, spiral and lyre-shaped.Ecology & Behaviour
Lechwes are congregatory and can often be seen in large herds.
They enter water to feed on aquatic grasses, an abundant resource underutilized by most other herbivores, and graze the grasses that spring up as floodwaters recede.
Conservation
It is listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for the Conservation of Natures Red list.
Black lechwe are endemic to Bangweulu Wetlands Zambia. Historic reports indicate that they once numbered around half-a-million as recently as 60 years ago but decreased to around 16,000 in the early 2000s due to over exploitation. Bangweulu is unique in that it is made up of Game Management Areas (GMAs) where local communities have retained the rights to sustainably harvest its natural resources. Due to pressure on its wildlife, in 2008, the DNPW and six Community Resource Boards entered into a long-term agreement with African Parks to deliver on a shared vision to sustainably manage and protect Bangweulu and its natural assets. Over the last 14 years, with high compliance from communities, poaching has been reduced considerably, resulting in the recovery of wildlife, including its black lechwe which number over 36,000 (in 2022)
Distribution & Habitat
Black Lechwe (K. l. smithemani) is distributed in the southern half of the Bangweulu Swamps of northern Zambia. Formerly it also occurred on the Chambeshi floodplains along the upper Luapula floodplain between Zambia and south-eastern DRC, but it is unlikely to survive there.
Interaction with Humans
The main threats to Black Lechwe are poaching and hunting for meat and sport, encroachment by livestock farming and ranching (especially around the drier margins of Bangwelu); they are very susceptible to any change in the hydrological regime such as dams and water management.
28°C