Sitatunga
Tragelaphus spekii Speke, 1863
The sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii), also called marshbuck, is a mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae and tribe Tragelaphini. It is a large, terrestrial herbivore with a cathemeral activity pattern, and adults weigh 78 kg, with values up to 87.5 kg reported.
Quick facts about the sitatunga
The sitatunga is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and its lifespan is 21.5 years.
- Weight
- 78 kg – 87.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 21.5 years – 22.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forest, wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 228 days – 259 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 13.2 monthssrc 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
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the sitatunga
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the sitatunga live?
Not recorded
What is the sitatunga?
The sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) or marshbuck is a swamp-dwelling medium-sized antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda, Zambia, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
The sitatunga is mostly confined to swampy and marshy habitats. They occur in tall and dense vegetation as well as seasonal swamps, marshy clearings in forests, riparian thickets and mangrove swamps.
From the Wikipedia article “Sitatunga” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sitatunga&oldid=1378220058), 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 sitatunga endangered?
The sitatunga is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- 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 Least Concern species.
How is the sitatunga classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusTragelaphus
- SpeciesTragelaphus spekii Speke, 1863
Synonyms Tragelaphus spekii spekii
Other names and names in other languages (27)
- Lake Victoria sitatungaEnglish
- Lake Victoria sitatungaEnglish
- MarshbuckEnglish
- MarshbuckEnglish
- SitutungaEnglish
- WaterkoedoeAfrikaans
- أنزويArabic
- سيتا تونغاArabic
- ظبي السبخةArabic
- СітатунгаBelarusian
- WasserkuduGerman
- SumpfantilopeGerman
- AnyidolDinka
- Guib d'EauFrench
- Guib HarnachFrench
- シタツンガJapanese
- 늪영양Korean
- 시타퉁가Korean
- SitatoengaDutch
- sitatunga sawannowaPolish
- NzoéSwahili
- NzoheSwahili
- NakongTswana
- nAakongTswana
- nNakoTswana
- СитатунгаUkrainian
- 林羚Chinese
Relatives of the sitatunga
Other species in the same genus Tragelaphus.
Bongo
Tragelaphus eurycerus
Kéwel
Tragelaphus scriptus
Gedemsa
Tragelaphus buxtoni
Cape Bushbuck
Tragelaphus sylvaticus
Ethiopian Highlands Bushbuck
Tragelaphus meneliki
Chobe Bushbuck
Tragelaphus ornatus
CompareSitatunga vs BongoSitatunga vs KéwelSitatunga vs GedemsaSitatunga vs Cape Bushbuck
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 a sitatunga?
The sitatunga is a mammal in the family Bovidae and the order Artiodactyla. It belongs to the subfamily Bovinae and the tribe Tragelaphini.
How heavy is a sitatunga?
An adult sitatunga weighs 78 kg, and our sources report weights up to 87.5 kg. This places it in the large size class.
What does a sitatunga eat?
The sitatunga is a herbivore.
Is the sitatunga endangered?
No. The sitatunga is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a sitatunga live?
The sitatunga has a lifespan of 21.5 years, with values up to 22.6 years reported by our sources.
How many young does a sitatunga have?
A sitatunga has 1 young per litter and 1 litter per year. Gestation lasts 242 days.
Who named the sitatunga?
The sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekii, was named by Speke in 1863.
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). Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sitatunga
“Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sitatunga.
@misc{sitatunga_2026,
title = {Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sitatunga},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}