Blesbok

The Blesbok, or Blesbuck, (Damaliscus dorcas phillpsi) is a purplish antelope with a distinctive white face and forehead broken between the eyes. Its white face is the origin of its name, because ‘bles’ is the Afrikaans word for blaze. Their neck and back are brown, flank and buttocks colouring being darker the bellyand inside of the buttocks white,whilst the patch up to the base of the tail is light brown/tan . Both sexes have horns, female horns are slightly more slender. The length of their horns are around 38cm. Adult male Blesbok weigh around 70kg (154lbs) whilst females average at around 61kg (134lbs).

Although they are close relatives of the Bontebok and they can interbreed creating an animal known as the Bontebles but they do not share habitats.They are a plains species and dislike wooded areas. The blesbuck is indigenous to South Africa and are found in large numbers in open grasslands. They were first discovered in the 17th century and were found in numbers so numerous that herds reached from horizon to horizon.