All printables
Sitatunga — printable fact sheet
Free to print or save as PDF. Great for classrooms, homeschooling, and young explorers.
Creature Atlas
Animal Fact Sheet
Name: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Sitatunga
Tragelaphus spekii
The sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) is the only truly amphibious antelope, and every part of it is shaped by life on floating vegetation. Its hooves are enormously elongated and splayed, up to 16 to 18 centimetres long, with flexible pasterns and naked hairless pads, so the anima…
Did you know?
- Sitatungas can rotate their hooves sideways, a unique adaptation that helps them maneuver through thick reeds and deep mud.
- Sitatunga hooves are so long and splayed that the animal can stand on a floating papyrus mat, but on hard ground it walks with a stilted, unstable gait. When threatened, a sitatunga will sink into water and submerge, leaving only its nostrils showing, sometimes for many minutes. It builds sleeping platforms by repeatedly trampling and circling on reeds until they compress into a dry mat. Males are considerably darker than females and are so shaggy about the neck that they can look almost bear-like in silhouette.
What I learned
Draw the sitatunga
© Creature Atlas · www.creatureatlas.com · Free for classroom & personal use
Want the whole set?
Get printable fact-sheet packs, coloring pages, and classroom worksheet bundles for dozens of animals — ready to download and print.
Browse printable packsGet a free printable each week
Join the newsletter for a new Creature of the Week + printables.