The Common Duiker (also known as the Grey Duiker) is a small antelope, and has a varied diet: it feeds on a variety of leaves, seeds, flowers, fruits and twigs, digs for roots and tubers, nibbles on bark, and is known to capture and eat a variety of young birds.
It is also preyed on by a variety of enemies, from lions to large owls. The duiker is active in the late afternoon or after dark, and it roams singly or in pairs, whisking its tail while roaming.
The male duiker stakes out his territory using a secretion from the scent glands below the front corners of the eyes, and actively defends this territory. Duikers derive their name from the Afrikaans word ‘duik’ which means to dive, as they have a habit of ‘diving’ into the bush when disturbed. Usually a single lamb is born.
