Nile lechwe
Kobus megaceros (Fitzinger, 1855)
The Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros) is a species in the family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla. Recorded adults weigh 87.5 kg to 87.9 kg and live up to 21 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
Quick facts about the Nile lechwe
- Weight
- 87.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 21 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 21.1 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 235 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the Nile lechwe live?
Not recorded
What is the Nile lechwe?
The Nile lechwe or Mrs Gray's lechwe (Kobus megaceros) is an endangered species of antelope found in swamps and grasslands in South Sudan and Ethiopia.
From the Wikipedia article “Nile lechwe” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nile_lechwe&oldid=1369395971), 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 Nile lechwe endangered?
The Nile lechwe is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- 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 Endangered species.
How is the Nile lechwe classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusKobus
- SpeciesKobus megaceros (Fitzinger, 1855)
Synonyms Adenota megaceros
Other names and names in other languages (23)
- أبو عقArabic
- تيل النيلArabic
- voduška abokCzech
- Nil-LechweGerman
- Weißnacken-MoorantilopeGerman
- WeißnackenmoorantilopeGerman
- AbuɔɔkDinka
- Cobo del NiloSpanish
- niilinlikiFinnish
- Mrs. Gray's LechweFrench
- Cobe de Madame GrayFrench
- Nagyszarvú mocsáriantilopHungarian
- Lichi del NiloItalian
- ナイルリーチュエJapanese
- 나일리추에Korean
- HvitnakkerørbukkNorwegian Bokmål
- BasterdwaterbokDutch
- Kob nilowyPolish
- Cobo-do-NiloPortuguese
- Нильский личиRussian
- Суданский козёлRussian
- nilski kobSlovenian
- 大角驢羚Chinese
Relatives of the Nile lechwe
Other species in the same genus Kobus.
Waterbuck
Kobus ellipsiprymnus
Kob
Kobus kob
Lechwe
Kobus leche
Puku
Kobus vardonii
Upemba lechwe
Kobus anselli
White-eared kob
Kobus leucotis
CompareNile lechwe vs WaterbuckNile lechwe vs KobNile lechwe vs LechweNile lechwe vs Puku
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the Nile lechwe?
An adult Nile lechwe weighs 87.5 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the Nile lechwe endangered?
The Nile lechwe is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
How long does the Nile lechwe live?
The Nile lechwe has a recorded lifespan of 21 years.
How long is the Nile lechwe pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 235 days.
What kind of animal is the Nile lechwe?
The Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros) belongs to the family Bovidae in the order Artiodactyla.
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). Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/nile-lechwe
“Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/nile-lechwe.
@misc{nile_lechwe_2026,
title = {Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/nile-lechwe},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}