Lechwe
Kobus leche Gray, 1850
The lechwe (Kobus leche), also called the red lechwe or southern lechwe, is a mammal of the family Bovidae, subfamily Antilopinae and tribe Reduncini. It is a large, terrestrial herbivore with a cathemeral activity pattern and an adult body mass of 110.7 kg.
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Quick facts about the lechwe
Gestation lasts from 213.1 to 243.5 days, a litter has 1 young, and sexual maturity comes at 2.5 to 2.9 years. The IUCN Red List assesses the lechwe as Near Threatened, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 91.7 kg – 110.7 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 22 years – 25.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 213 days – 244 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.46 years – 2.87 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the lechwe
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the lechwe live?
Not recorded
What is the lechwe?
The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe (Kobus leche) is an antelope found in wetlands of south-central Africa.
From the Wikipedia article “Lechwe” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lechwe&oldid=1362432646), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the lechwe endangered?
The lechwe is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the lechwe classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusKobus
- SpeciesKobus leche Gray, 1850
Synonyms Kobus leche leche, Kobus leche robertsi
Other names and names in other languages (59)
- LechweeEnglish
- Red lechweEnglish
- Red lechweEnglish
- Southern lechweEnglish
- Southern lechweEnglish
- RooilechweAfrikaans
- BasterwaterbokAfrikaans
- Rooi-lechweAfrikaans
- تيل أحمرArabic
- تيل أسودArabic
- تيل روبرتسArabic
- تيل كافوArabic
- تيل يوبيمباArabic
- Личи (хӀайван)Avaric
- Liçi (məməli)Azerbaijani
- Cob lichiCatalan
- voduška červenáCzech
- LetjevandbukDanish
- sumpantilopeDanish
- LetschweGerman
- LitschiGerman
- Litschi-MoorantilopeGerman
- Litschi-WasserbockGerman
- LitschimoorantilopeGerman
- MoorantilopeGerman
- Κόκκινο ΛέτσγουεGreek
- LeĉantilopoEsperanto
- Cobo de LechweSpanish
- likiFinnish
- Cobe LechweFrench
- Kobus lecheFrench
- LichiItalian
- リーチュエJapanese
- ლიჩიGeorgian
- 리추에Korean
- 남방리추에Korean
- Личи (гьайван)Lezghian
- LičisLithuanian
- Личи (янлык)Mari
- Letwi MerahMalay
- LetjevannbukkNorwegian Bokmål
- LitschiewaterbokDutch
- Kob licziPolish
- Kob moczarowyPolish
- لیچویWestern Panjabi
- Cob-lechePortuguese
- Cobo-lechwePortuguese
- ЛичиRussian
- Личи (млекопитающее)Russian
- ličiSlovenian
- ЛечваSerbian
- LetjevattenbockSwedish
- LeçveTurkish
- leEtshweeTswana
- leTsweeTswana
- Личи (пӧйшур)Udmurt
- Linh dương đồng cỏVietnamese
- 驢羚Chinese
- 驴羚Chinese
Relatives of the lechwe
Other species in the same genus Kobus.
Waterbuck
Kobus ellipsiprymnus
Kob
Kobus kob
Puku
Kobus vardonii
Nile lechwe
Kobus megaceros
Upemba lechwe
Kobus anselli
White-eared kob
Kobus leucotis
CompareLechwe vs WaterbuckLechwe vs KobLechwe vs PukuLechwe vs Nile lechwe
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the lechwe?
The lechwe is a large terrestrial mammal in the family Bovidae and the order Artiodactyla.
How heavy is a lechwe?
An adult lechwe weighs 110.7 kg. The lowest value reported by our sources is 91.72 kg.
What does the lechwe eat?
The lechwe is a herbivore.
Is the lechwe endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List assesses the lechwe as Near Threatened, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a lechwe live?
The lechwe has a lifespan of 22 years, with values up to 25.4 years reported.
What is the litter size and gestation period of the lechwe?
The lechwe has 1 young per litter after a gestation period of 229.4 days.
Who named the lechwe?
The lechwe, Kobus leche, was named by Gray, 1850.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Lechwe (Kobus leche). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/lechwe
“Lechwe (Kobus leche).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/lechwe.
@misc{lechwe_2026,
title = {Lechwe (Kobus leche)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/lechwe},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}