Safari West is an animal conservation facility near Santa Rosa, CA. While visiting there I took many pictures, but really like the attached one of a Kudongo - an unofficial name for a cross between a Kudu and a Bongo, both species of African forest antelope.
jeffhendy wrote:
Safari West is an animal conservation facility near Santa Rosa, CA. While visiting there I took many pictures, but really like the attached one of a Kudongo - an unofficial name for a cross between a Kudu and a Bongo, both species of African forest antelope.
Do they also hybridize the other way too, Bongudo or whatever. I checked and the Kudongo looks like neither of course. Are the hybrids fertile?
I know of plants that can hybridize and establish populations. And the sex of the species in the cross has an effect. One of my former professors was studying a hybridization between Salvia mellifera (Black Sage) and Salvia apiana (White Sage). You actually get two types of "daughter" plants from the cross.
male S. apiana x female S. mellifera give a hybrid with different features from a
female S. apiana x male S. mellifera. And of course both look different from either parent. So there were essentially four different looking plants at this one location. And due to the typical hybrid vigor issue
most of the plants present were the two types of hybrid progeny. Here we are talking about the pollen and ovary as this genus has complete flowers so the plants are all both sexes. Many other plants have separate one sex individuals Carob comes to mind, or two different flowers, male and female on the same plant, squash, pumpkins, zucchini, melons come to mind. OK, biology lessen over. But for me anyway there can be overlap between photography and biology.
Very sharp capture of an unusual animal!
Because they are a conservation facility, they don't encourage hybridization - in fact they are a little reluctant to talk about it! They don't know if it's fertile or not.
jeffhendy wrote:
Because they are a conservation facility, they don't encourage hybridization - in fact they are a little reluctant to talk about it! They don't know if it's fertile or not.
Oh, so it is an accident. Makes sense, I fully understand. As might be apparent, my degree is in biology.
If they are a true conservation facility they would not be cross breeding bongos and kudus. hope this was an unplanned event or providing a home for the cross bred antelope.
Very good portrait shot, Jeff.
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