The unknown unknowns: Tsessebe

I am always delighted to discover an animal that I have not only never seen before, but never even heard of, and indeed can barely pronounce. Such a one was the Common Tsessebe, Damaliscus lunatus lunatus. These Eureka moments remind you that no matter how old you get, there is still a vast undiscovered world out there to learn about.

First, there was a single male, amongst a group of impala.

Then, there was a group of females, with a wildebeest.

And they had little ones

with tiny horns

The tsessebe is a large strong antelope, the fastest on the planet. It can top 90kmh. I thought to myself “It looks rather like a topi”, and indeed they are closely related, but the horns are differently shaped.