The gentle kobs Kobs are reddish brown in colour, although some are black. Their under layer skin is always white; that is why their eyes are surrounded by white. Kobs are almost similar to impalas but they are different. Kobs graze on short grass and like to live in territories that are flat. Like reedbucks and waterbucks which like living near water, kobs also like a particular location where they graze and drink water day after day, season after season. Unlike other antelopes, kobs have permanent breeding grounds called leks. This is where they give birth and multiply from. A newborn kob stays with its mother for 6 to 7 months suckling milk, and by the 7th month, the young kob is half the size of the adult. Young males begin to grow their horns at 5 months, and by 1 year their horns are as long as their ears. Kobs become mature between 13 and 14 months, but a male will not be active in the breeding grounds until he is 3 or 4 years old, when he has become strong enough to look for its own territory. Female kobs, along with their young, form herds of 30 to 50 animals. During prolonged dry seasons and drought, they congregate with males in very large numbers wherever green grass is still available. This is how they survive. Ends
