Duiker sighting excites Toti lensman

It’s a warm and fuzzy moment when you spot one of nature’s creatures in the midst of a city’s suburb.

St Winifreds photographer, Wayne Bisset experienced such a sighting earlier on Thursday, 9 March when, armed with his new camera, he unhappily watched the rain while keen to try out his new ‘toy’.

“Something caught my eye on the pavement. I saw it was not a small dog nor a big rabbit – I couldn’t believe my eyes, a duiker in the suburbs of Amanzimtoti!” said the chuffed lensman.

Wayne grabbed his camera and headed out into the rain. “The tiny animal emerged from the dense foliage and crossed the Road.”

Wayne snapped away at the fantastic sighting. “To see an animal that is listed as rare in the ‘red book’ is pretty amazing and in a town? Eish!”

Wayne thought it was the world’s smallest antelope but some online research put him right. He discovered there is a smaller species found north-west of South Africa. According to Wayne’s research, the world’s smallest antelope is the royal antelope, a hare-sized denizen of West Africa’s lowland rainforest. The similar dwarf antelope is only slightly bigger. Both belong to the Neotragini tribe of dwarf antelopes which includes the dik-dik, steenbok, klipspringer, and oribi.

The blue duiker, most likely the one that Wayne spotted, is Southern Africa’s smallest antelope species, measuring 300mm at the shoulders. The coat is blue-grey and both sexes carry short, sharp horns which are often concealed by a tuft of hair.