Tiergarten Nürnberg

Duiker in the underbrush

Duikers are native to Africa and a subspecies of horned ungulates. These are small, wood-dwelling antelopes. Not many people know about them, probably due to the fact that they are rarely seen in the wild. Duikers are mainly nocturnal, mostly in the underbrush and are very shy. At the slightest disturbance, they flee through the undergrowth. This is where they got their name, which derives from the Afrikaans word duiker and means "diver." The Yellow-backed Duiker is the largest and most powerful of the duiker species.