Springbok - Behavior

Behavior

The social structure of the springbok is similar to the Thomson's gazelle. Bachelor males and females form separate herds. These groups are normally kept separate by territorial males, which round up female herds that enter their territories and keep out the bachelors. Females may leave the herds solitarily or in groups to give birth. Mothers and fawns may gather in nursery herds separate from harem and bachelor herds. After weaning, female offspring stay with their mothers until a new young is born, while males join bachelor groups.

Springbok often go into bouts of repeated high leaps of up to 4.0 metres (13 ft) into the air in a practice known as "pronking" (Afrikaans and Dutch: pronk, to show off) or "stotting". While pronking, the Springbok repeatedly leaps into the air in a particular stiff-legged posture, with its back bowed and the white fan lifted. While the exact cause of this behavior is unknown, springbok exhibit this activity when they are nervous or otherwise excited. One theory is pronking is meant to indicate to predators that they have been spotted. Another is the springbok show off their individual strength and fitness so the predator will go for another (presumably weaker) member of the group. Another opinion is springbok and other similar antelopes do this to spray scent secreted from a gland near the heel.

The Dutch/Afrikaans term trekbokken refers to the large-scale migration of herds of springbok seen roaming the country during the early pioneer days of South Africa before farm fences were erected. Millions of migrating springbok formed herds hundreds of kilometers long that could take several days to pass a town. These are the largest herds of mammals ever witnessed.