Bluebuck
The bluebuck (Afrikaans: bloubok also known as the blue antelope ('Hippotragus leucophaeus) is an extinct species of antelope that lived in South Africa until around 1800. It was smaller than the other two species in its genus Hippotragus, the roan antelope and sable antelope. The bluebuck was sometimes considered a subspecies of the roan antelope, but a study has confirmed it as a distinct species. During the Late Pleistocene, the bluebuck was common across South Africa, but by the time Europeans encountered the bluebuck in the 17th century, it was already uncommon, perhaps due to its preferred grassland habitat having been reduced to a 4,300-square-kilometre (1,700 sq mi) area, along the southern coast of South Africa The first published mention of the bluebuck is from 1681, and few descriptions of the animal were written while it existed Hunted by European settlers, the bluebuck became extinct around 1800; it was the first historically recorded species of large African mammal to face extinction. Only four mounted skins remain, in museums in Leiden, Stockholm, Vienna, and Paris, along with horns and possible bones in various museums.
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| One of four existing bluebuck skins, Vienna Museum of Natural History. The blue colour is caused by the lighting. | |
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| Hippotragus leucophaeus | |
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| Where the bluebuck lived in South Africa (in red) | |
Bluebuck Media
1778 illustration by Allamand, probably based on the type specimen in Leiden
Horns in Natural History Museum, London
Bluebuck or Blue Antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus), Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.
Late 1700s illustration by Gordon, possibly showing the Paris skin
Dutch newsreel about taxidermy from 1978 showing the Leiden specimen
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