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Suni

Suni
Afrikaans
name : Soenie
Scientific name : (neotragini moschatus) tribe (Neotragini), subfamily (Antilopinae)

Region :  Eastern Africa, from Somalia in the North  to Kwazulu-Natal in the South. 
Description :
The suni is a member of the neotragini tribe of dwarf antelope. Related to the royal antelope, grysbok, steenbok, klipspringer, beira dik-dik and oribi.
Habitat :
Savanna mosaic and thorn-bush territory hot, often waterless, regions.
Food :
They eat mainly foilage, shoots herbs, seeds, pods, and some fruits. These small antelope can be selective in their choice of the most nutritious growth available and may survive in limited territory and on resources too limited to support larger browsers.
Habits : They live in monogamous relationships, together with one or two young, in territories ranging in size from 10 ha to 1km squared. The suni are most active at night. Living in the suni cannot afford to loose water via sweating and therefore has devised a method of evaporative cooling via nasal panting.
Young :  One or two young are born. Calving season . Maturity on 1 year. Gestation period  5/7 months. Calves accompany mothers. Calves are precocious, yet they do not accompany their mothers on foraging excursions for the first two or three months. Fathers show a degree of parental responsiveness. Male young will eventually leave their parents while females may stay on longer and it is possible that they will mate with their fathers.
Predators : Leopards, Hyena, Lion, Caracal, Jackal and Eagles.

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