When Dik-Diks fight….
Smith’s Dik-Dik Madoqua (guentheri) smithii are monogamous and territorial. They live in pairs with one or two of their offspring. Territorial boundaries are typically marked with scent from their preorbital and pedal glands, and by urine and dung middens. Both sexes mark their territory.
Adult male Smith’s Dik-Dik Madoqua (guentheri) smithii marking his territory by rubbing secretions from the pre-orbital gland onto a grass stem, east of Sibiloi National Park, north Kenya.
Adult female Smith’s Dik-Dik Madoqua (guentheri) smithii, Guble Pass, north Kenya. Note the moth on the secretions of the left pre-orbital gland.
Aggressive fighting by Smith’s Dik-Dik is seldom observed. During the hundreds of hours watching this species in the wild, we had never seen a highly aggressive encounter. In February 2025, during ‘Phase Two’ of our ‘Horn of Africa Antelope Survey’, we filmed two adult males fighting at Mount Ololokwe, central Kenya. This agonistic interaction lasted at least 3 minutes. See the video below.
Smith’s Dik-Dik Madoqua (guentheri) smithii, Ololokwe Hill, central Kenya.
Yvonne A. de Jong & Thomas M. Butynski – February 2025
Adult male Günther’s Dik-Dik Madoqua (guentheri) guentheri, Malka Mari National Park, northeast Kenya.