CreatureData

Suni

Neotragus moschatus (Von Dueben, 1846)

Status not recordedmammals

The suni (Neotragus moschatus) is a species in the family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla. Recorded adults weigh about 6.5 kg and live up to 13.5 years.

Suni (Neotragus moschatus)
Photo: Olivier Lejade from France · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the suni

Weight
6.5 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
13.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
14 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
180 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
6.03 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the suni live?

Not recorded

What is the suni?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The suni (Nesotragus moschatus) is a small antelope of the family Bovidae, and one of the smallest ungulates on earth. It occurs in dense underbrush from central Kenya to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It is also found on the island of Zanzibar off of Tanzania.

Suni are around 30 to 43 centimetres (12 to 17 inches) high at the shoulder and weigh 4.5 to 5.4 kilograms (9 lb 15 oz to 11 lb 14 oz). They are usually reddish brown, darker on their back than their sides and legs. The belly, chin, throat and insides of legs are white. The nostrils are prominent red, and there are black rings around the eyes and above the hooves. Males have horns 8–13 cm (3–5 in) long, that are ridged most of their length and curve backwards close to their heads. Females do not have horns. Suni can make weak barking and whistling sounds.

Suni feed on leaves, fungi, fruits and flowers, and need almost no free water. They are shy, most active at night, and sleep during the day in a shady, sheltered area. They are social but males defend a territory of about three hectares. They scent-mark the boundaries with secretions from their preorbital glands. There may be an individual or communal dung pile on the periphery of the territory. A male usually takes one mate, but other females may share his territory. A single calf is born weighing about two pounds, after a gestation of 183 days.

Felids, raptors, snakes, and other meat-eaters prey on suni. For protection, they are well camouflaged in dry grass and keep very still. When a predator is almost on top of them, they spring out and bound away into the underbrush.

From the Wikipedia article “Suni” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suni&oldid=1357807586), 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 suni endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the suni classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderArtiodactyla
  5. familyBovidae
  6. genusNeotragus
  7. SpeciesNeotragus moschatus (Von Dueben, 1846)

Synonyms Neotragus moschatus moschatus, Nesotragus moschatus

Other names and names in other languages (2)
  • Coastal suniEnglish
  • Coastal suniEnglish

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaWikidata

Relatives of the suni

Other species in the same genus Neotragus.

CompareSuni vs Royal antelopeSuni vs Dwarf antelopeSuni vs Mountain suniSuni vs Livingstone's suni

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the suni?

An adult suni weighs 6.5 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

How long does the suni live?

The suni has a recorded lifespan of 13.5 years.

How long is the suni pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 180 days.

What kind of animal is the suni?

The suni (Neotragus moschatus) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Suni (Neotragus moschatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/suni

MLA

“Suni (Neotragus moschatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/suni.

BibTeX
@misc{suni_2026,
  title = {Suni (Neotragus moschatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/suni},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}