Topis

We were quite taken with the topi.

The topi is an East African antelope not found in South Africa. It is a subspecies of the Southern African tsessebe, and therefore looked very familiar to us. But not quite. Topi resemble a hartebeest too but have a darker coloration and lack sharply angled horns.

They have elongated heads, a distinct hump at the base of the neck, and reddish brown bodies with dark purple patching on their upper legs. They also have a mask-like dark coloration on the face. Their horns are ringed and lyrate shaped and their coats are short.

Topi are very sociable. With other topi. But they were very skittish when vehicles with people were around. As soon as they saw you, they would stop what they were doing, turn and walk away. I have a lot of photos of topi butts!

a line of topi