Waterbuck Mating - Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

 

While those in equatorial regions breed year-round, other populations breed seasonally. Males can confirm when a female enters oestrus by smelling her urine. Females will fight off prospective males, who show their interest by curling back their lips and rubbing their heads and horns against a female’s back. The gestation period lasts for about 7 to 8 months, after which females normally give birth to a single calf. Females eat the afterbirth to keep predators away, then take their young to secluded thickets. They may keep their young hidden away for just 2 weeks or as long as 2 months. Mothers communicate with their young using a series of bleats, grunts, and tail signals. Although calves can stand and walk just a few minutes after birth, they tend to remain with their mother for the first 8 months of life. 

Juvenile males start to show horns at around 7 to 8 months old. Once this happens, territorial males drive these young bucks from the herd, who then go and join bachelor herds with other young bucks. However, young females may stay with their mothers in nursery herds or similarly join bachelor herds. Males typically mature at around 6 years old and exhibit peak territorial behavior between 6 and 9. As for females, they sexually mature between 2 and 3 years old. Waterbucks can live up to 18 years in the wild and nearly 30 years in captivity, given the right conditions. 

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