Male – height 34 to 48 inches; weight 154 to 275 lbs.  Female – 29 to 35 inches; weight 110 to 125 lbs.  Adult male coats are gray-brown to chocolate brown.  Female coats are lighter – brown to chestnut red.  Calf coats are a bright rufus red, wooly, spotted and striped.  Adult coats are long with white markings that are less distinct.  A dorsal crest of hair is brown.  The male only grows horns (17 to 35 inches long with two twists and ivory tipped). 

Up to 20 years

Sitatungas occur only in swamps or permanent marshes.  They are partial to papyrus swamps, but also gravitate toward bulrush and sedge wetlands.  It is common to find the frequenting the deepest part of the swamp.

Grazing and browsing, the sitatunga selects plants in the flowering stage.  Emerging at night, they graze on dry land and venture into woodlands to browse.  A Sitatunga may concentrate its feeding on a specific area for many days before shifting suddenly to new grounds.  Often sitatungas feed while immersed up to their shoulders in water.  To reach the flowers of tall reed, sedge grasses and tree foliage, they rear up on their back feet and stand upright.  Males have been known to use their horns to break branches in order to reach leaves to eat.

Female sitatungas have a herding tendency.  Males associate in bachelor groups or with females until they reach adulthood at which point they become solitary.

Most of their activity occurs from dawn until 11 AM and after 5 PM.  During the heat of they day, each will lie on a platform of trampled vegetation that is made by repeated circling.  These platforms may be used several times before abandoned.  Often times, sitatungas will stand in the water and ruminate.

On dry land, they are slow, clumsy runners.  Usual movements, therefore, are slow and inconspicuous.

Males often “bark” at night.  One may continue intermittently for over 10 minutes.  This sound may an advertisement or an alarm signal.  Other males announcing their presence and location may also take up barking.  Females utter a single higher-pitched bark.  During the day when feeding, sitatungas have also been recorded uttering a low-pitched squeak.  A male following a female may utter a suppressed roar.  Calves bleat sheepishly.

Sitatungas breed throughout the year, but most births occur during the dry season.  After a gestation period of 247 days, a female isolates her self to deliver a single calf.  Calves remain hidden, and even partially grown are only brought out in the open when other sitatungas are around.  Young are not able to move slowly and deliberately through a swamp.  Even after learning how to negotiate their unsteady terrain, a calf may follow its mother for several months, even remaining with her after the next calf is born.

Primary predators of the sitatunga include lions, wild dogs, and leopards.  Sitatungas strive to avoid detection and will submerge in water until only the nostrils and eyes remain above the water’s surface. 

A swamp antelope, the sitatunga is especially adapted to wet terrain.  Long, splayed hooves keep it from sinking in mud and on floating vegetation.  The sitatunga is a good but slow swimmer.

Aggression amongst sitatungas is rare in the wild.

There are five subspecies of sitatungas that are distinguished from one another by their coat color.  Light gray, yellow-brown, red-brown to almost black have been described.  Three of the subspecies are the Northern sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei spekei), the Western sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei gratus) and the Zambezi sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei selousi).

Except for a short 16-day period during January 1999, this species has been represented in the Zoo’s animal collection since the first male arrived in October 1972.  It has successfully bred here.