Meet the Lechwes By Peter Ryan

By Pete Ryan

When hunters first think about Africa, they imagine the Big Five and glamor plains game – kudu, sable and the rest. Then they do their first trip, and start to read, and after a while a new world opens up – waterbuck, the duikers, the elusive bushbuck clan. Every bit as fascinating as the glamor crowd, and many of them a joy to watch and stalk. Foremost among them, I believe, are the lechwes. Close relatives of waterbuck, they are distinctive in every way. Graceful, heavily-ridged horns, hindquarters higher than forequarters, a long slot of a track that speaks of a life perfectly adapted to floodplains and swamp. The Kafue and black lechwes of Zambia, delightful as they are, make a somewhat specialised safari goal. The red lechwe found in eastern Caprivi, western Zambia and above all in the Okavango are often found in a foot or two of water, where they can graze aquatic plants, knowing that their build and movement puts them at an advantage over most predators.

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