<em>Roger Reason, Senior Keeper
Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, IL</em>
<p style="text-align: left;">The first klipspringer (<em>Oreotragus oreotragus</em>) to make an appearance in an American zoo was a female imported by the Philadelphia Zoo in 1934.  However, it was not until the 1970’s that klipspringers began to reproduce in captivity, with the first birth occurring at the St. Louis Zoo in 1971 (Maley, 1999).  Since that time 182 births have been recorded in the North American Studbook (Lebanik, 2008) but, despite this relatively good breeding success, basic information on female reproductive parameters and calf development has not been well documented within the zoo community.  The scientific literature also has little to offer on these subjects.

In an attempt to provide insight into some aspects of reproduction and development in this species, information was compiled from klipspringer records at Brookfield Zoo as well as records provided by the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, FL and the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL.  This information has been consolidated into Tables 1 and 2.

<em><strong>Female Reproductive Parameters</strong></em>

<strong>Gestation Period</strong>
Reports from the literature on gestation length in klipspringers are conflicting.  Cuneo (1965) mentions gestation lengths of 7-7½ months (213-228 days) and Kenneth and Ritchie (1953) give a gestation period of 214 days.  However, Norton (1980) reports a gestation length of five months (152 days) and Estes (1991) states that this is a more likely estimate.  Taking into consideration the average gestation length for Brookfield, Brevard, and Lincoln Park Zoos (Table 1), the preponderance of evidence suggests that the normal gestation period for this species is around seven months (213 days).  This is similar to gestations of 6.4 and 7 months recorded for the oribi (<em>Ourebia ourebia</em>), a related neotragine (dwarf antelope) species. (Estes 1991).

<strong>Udder Development</strong>
The range for udder development in klipspringer pregnancies at Brookfield Zoo is rather broad (Table 1).  However, Estes (1991) reports udder development occurring at one month prior to birth in the oribi indicating that the upper end of this range may be more typical for klipspringers.

<strong>Post-Partum Estrus</strong>
While there is no information in the literature on post-partum estrus in other members of the dwarf antelope group, the post-partum estrus for klipspringers at Brookfield and Lincoln Park Zoos (Table 1) is similar to that reported for some of the smaller non-neotragine antelope species.  Thompson’s gazelle (<em>Gazella thompsonii</em>) comes into estrus within two weeks of giving birth and the gerenuk (<em>Litocranius walleri</em>) within 2-4 weeks (Estes 1991).
<p style="text-align: left;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1484" title="klipspringer" src="http://aecetia.net/gws/aazk/wp-content/uploads/klipspringer.jpg" alt="klipspringer" width="775" height="700" /></p>

<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>0.1 klipspringer Charlotte and calf </strong>
<em>(Photo: Jim Schultz, Staff Photographer/Brookfield Zoo)</em>

<p style="text-align: left;"><em>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><em><strong>Calf Development</strong></em>

<strong>First Ingesting Solid Food</strong>
The ages at which klipspringer calves at Brookfield Zoo were observed to start ingesting solid food (Table 2) are generally later than those for the oribi which starts nibbling grass at five days of age and the steenbok (<em>Raphicerus campertris</em>), another dwarf antelope species, which starts eating plants at two weeks of age (Estes 1991).  The…..

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