Damaliscus lunatus

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Damaliscus lunatus, commonly called topi, tsessebe, or sassaby, is a large African antelope in the Bovidae family. It lives in grasslands and lightly wooded savannas across Southern, East, and West Africa.

What it looks like
- Size: adults are about 150–230 cm long and stand 100–130 cm high at the shoulder.
- Weight: males about 137 kg and females about 120 kg.
- Horns: both sexes have horns, about 37–40 cm long.
- Coat: chestnut or reddish-brown with a dark facial mask; the shoulders and front legs are often darker, and the belly is lighter.
- Other: they have short, shiny hair and a distinctive, elongated head with a hump at the neck base.

Where they live
- Topi favor flat, open grasslands and savannas, usually below 1,500 m in elevation.
- They are well known for large seasonal migrations in some places, such as the Serengeti region, where they move with other grazing animals.

Behavior and social life
- Topi form herds that can be quiet large. Males establish and defend territories, sometimes grouping with other males in clusters.
- Breeding often involves a lek system, where groups of males display in central spots and females visit to choose mates.
- Females come into estrus for one day, and a dominant male in the lek may have higher mating success.
- Calves stay with their mothers for about a year. Yearling males and females may join bachelor groups.

Diet and water
- They are grazing herbivores, feeding mainly on grasses.
- They prefer green, growing grass and avoid very long or very short pasture.
- If abundant green vegetation is available, topi may not drink every day; they drink more when grass is dry.
- They can travel several kilometers to find water, especially during dry periods.

Predators and threats
- Predators include lions, cheetahs, African wild dogs, and spotted hyenas. Hyenas are especially a threat to calves.
- In some areas, habitat change and competition with other herbivores have affected local populations.

Conservation status
- The IUCN currently lists topi as Least Concern, with a large overall population around several hundred thousand individuals.
- Populations can be patchy and may rise or fall in different regions due to habitat changes and human activities.
- In some places, protected reserves have helped populations recover, while in others, local declines have occurred.

Taxonomy note
- There has been debate among scientists about how many species to recognize within these antelopes. Most sources today treat them as one species, Damaliscus lunatus, with several regional subspecies (such as the northern jimela and the southern tsessebe), though classifications have varied over time.