Mount Moreland Conservancy - Attract Bush Buck to the Mount Moreland Conservation area

Creating habitat for Bush Duiker Sylvicapra grimmia
at Mount Moreland Conservancy

List compiled by Michael Hickman - links and common names by Angie Wilken

Suitable food plants to be used to create habitat for Bush Duiker
Considering the vast and varied diet of the Bush Duiker it is recommended that the following species in particular should be planted to provide as varied a range of food plants as possible to support a reasonably large and healthy number of Bush Duiker on the estate. In addition most of the plants listed below also provide food for the smaller Blue Duiker Cephalophus monticola, which if not already present on the estate should be introduced.

Click on an image and find out more about the listed species

Acacia karroo Sweet thorn	Acacia nilotica scented-pod Acacia	Acacia robusta Ankle Thorn	Acacia sieberiana paperbark thorn	Canthium inerme turkey-berry	Carissa macrocarpa Natal plum	Combretum kraussii forest bushwillow	Dichrostachys cinerea sickle bush	Dovyalis caffra Kei-appel
Dovyalis longispina Natal Apricot	Ficus lutea Giant-leaved fig	Ficus natalensis ommon wild fig	Ficus polita Fig tree	Ficus sur Broom cluster fig	Halleria lucida Tree fuchsia	Harpephyllum caffrum Wild plum	Mimusops caffra Coast red milkwood	Mimusops obovata Coastal red milkwood
Portulacaria afra Pork bush	Sclerocarya birrea Marula	Strychnos gerrardii Coastal monkey orange	Strychnos madagascariensis Black monkey orange	Syzigium cordatum Umdoni	Tabernaemontana ventricosa Forest toad tree	Trema orientalis Pigeon wood	Trichilia dregeana Forest Natal mahogany	Xylotheca kraussiana African dog rose
Shrubs
Coddia rudis Small Bone-apple	Deinbollia oblongifolia Dune soap berry	Combretum bracteosum Hiccough-nut	Ficus burtt-davyi Veld fig	Grewia occidentalis Cross-berry	Hibiscus calyphyllus Sun hibiscus	Hibiscus pedunculatus Pink mallow	Hibiscus surattensis Bush Sorrel	Isoglossa woodii Buckweed
Forbs
Asystasia gangetica Creeping foxglove	Drimiopsis maculata Little white soldiers	Justicia betonica Paper plume	Justicia campylostemon Honey justicia	Justicia capensis Money plant	Justicia flava yellow justicea	Justicia petiolaris Blue justicia	Justicia protracta Veld justicia	Peristrophe cernua False Buchwheat
Phaulopsis imbricata

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General

The Bush Duiker, Sylvicapra grimmia, also known as the Grey or Common Duiker, is a small antelope with small horns found in west, central, east, and southern Africa- essentially everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the horn of Africa and the rainforests of the central and western parts of the continent. It grows to about 4 feet (1.2 m) in height and generally weighs 12 to 25 kg; females are generally larger and heavier than their male counterparts. The male bears horns which can grow to 4.25 inches (11 cm) long. Breeding is year round and the female gives birth to one fawn.

Duiker ("DIKE-er") is Afrikaans for "diver", due to their habit of bounding into the undergrowth when alarmed. Silva (Latin) a wood, a forest; capra (Latin) a she-goat. Named in honour of Dr. Hermann Nicolas Grimm, a German scientist who originally described the Duiker as early as 1686, though it was named by Linnaeus in 1758.

Habitat

Generally they are found in habitat that has sufficient vegetation cover to allow them to hide—savannah and hilly areas, including the fringes of human settlements. They are not usually found in thick Forest.

Males are territorial and smear gland secretions on rocks and branches in order to mark their territories, their preferred resting places are generally on elevated ground where they can observe their territory. Females, by contrast, prefer deeper cover. The overall success of this species stems from its ability to inhabit a wide variety of habitats as well as from its adaptable, generalist diet.

Diet

Bush Duikers are almost exclusively browsers. Their diet consists of leaves especially of Acacia and Combretum, as well as twigs, fruits, flowers and seeds of a large variety of trees and shrubs. Fruits are seasonally very important, notably the seed pods of leguminous trees in particular those of Acacia as well as various varieties of Figs. They will often scavenge for these fruits below trees in which monkeys birds and fruit bats are feeding. They also dig for tubers and roots and eat unusual items such as fungus, young birds, caterpillars and lizards. The resin and bark of trees are occasionally a part of the Duiker's diet. They have been known to eat insects, such as caterpillars, cockroaches, and ants.

They are independent of water and rarely drink even where water is freely available.

More plant selections - Click on an Imange to reveal more

TREES