English: Common Duiker; French: Céphalophe de Grimm; Afrikaans: Gewone Duiker; Amharic: Midaqua; Bambara: Mankalan; Banda-Linda: Kpalia; Basari: Ingwédy; Chinyanja: Gwapi; Ewondo-Beti: Okpen; Damara: dâs, nâus; Ful: Tokhere; Gbaya: Bio; Hausa: gada; Herero: Ombambi; Iswana: Chuti; Kiladi: Ncia; Kirundi: Isha, Ingoregere; Kiswahili: Nsya; Kung:!tau, n!au, n!ou, !naus; Kwanyama: Ombabi; Lozi: Puti; Manza: Bilo; Nganguela: Mbambi; Ovambo: Okambunja; Punu: Tsic; Shaba: Kashia; Shangan: Mhuti; Shona: Mhempwe; Sindebele: Mpunzi; Sotho: Tsikupu; Tswana: Umsumbi; Wolof: Hamfurde; Xhosa: Isikupu; Zulu: Impunzi, Umkumbi.
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Former distribution: As now.
Present distribution: South of the Sahara from Senegal east to Sudan and Ethiopia, south to the Cape Province and north to Namibia, Angola and southern Gabon; not in the rain forests and extreme desert regions such as Sahara, Kalahari and Mocamedes desert.
Behaviour: See Rotflankenducker
Population status: Stable.
Brief notes:
Body weight: 15-18 kg
Head and body length: 90-115 cm
Tail length: 10-12 cm
Shoulder height: 45-55 cm
Gestation period: 7-7 1/2 months
Maximum age: 12 years (in captivity)
Trophy: Record SCI: 17 3/8 score. Rep. of South Africa, C. ALLEN FOSTER; average 11 score. RW’s: 7 1/8″, Republic of South Africa, W. LATTIGAN; average 4 1/2″. CIC: 31.30 points, 1970 Tanzania, ANTAL RACZ; average 25 points.
Hunting methods: With beaters and dogs, stalking.
Subspecies: 19. For the hunter it might be more practical to follow the classification of Rowland Ward’s (1986), and SCI (1986) and divide the duikers into 4 geographical regions:
1. Western Bush Duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, subsp. coronata, campbelliae and pallidior From Senegal east to Nigeria, southern Chad and northern Central African Republic. Trophy: Record SCI: 15 1/8 score, 1978 Central African Republic, PETE PAPAC; average 10 score. RW’s: 5-5 5/8″, 1921 Zaire, Tervuren Museum (Schouteden); average 3 1/2″.
2. East African Bush Duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, subsp. hindei, abyssinica, rooseveiti, lutea, nyansae, lobeliarum, uvirensis, altivallis and deserti From south-eastern Sudan, central and southern Ethiopia, south-western Somalia, Rwanda-Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and eastern Zaire. Trophy: Record SCI: 15 4/8 score, 1984 Tanzania, STANLEY R. BENZ; average 11 score. RW’s: 6 1/8″, Tanzania, J. HOPLEY; average 4″. CIC: 31.30 points, 1970 Tanzania, ANTAL RACZ; average 25 points.
3. Angola Bush Duiker Sylvicapra grimmia splendidula Southern Gabon, Angola and southern Zaire. Trophy: Record SCI: 15 score, 1975 Angola, GORDON ALFORD; average 11 score. RW’s: 6 1/2″, Angola, E.P. COOPER; average 3″.
4. Southern Bush Duiker Sylvicapra grimmia subsp. shirensis, transvaalensis, caffra, orbicularis, burchelli, steinhardi and grimmia Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, south-eastern Angola, south-eastern Zaire, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, RSA. Trophy: Record SCI: 17 3/8 score, 1978 RSA, C. ALLEN FOSTER; average 11 score. RW’s: 7 1/8″, RSA, W. LATTIGAN; average 4 1/2″.
Remarks: Predators of the Common Duiker include leopards, caracals, wild dogs, jackals, hyenas, pythons, civets, servals, cheetahs, baboons and crocodiles. Common Duikers sometimes kill birds in the wild. Information on gestation period not clear; some authors record 120 days, other 7-7 1/2 months. More information about behaviour required.
