Données préliminaires sur la biologie et l'écologie du damalisque (Damaliscus korrigum - Ogilby) au Parc National de la Pendjari (République du Bénin)

In the mid-eighties, the topi was regarded as an endangered antelope in the Pendjari National Park, in the Northern Republic of Benin, West-Africa. Estimated at 170 individuals at that rime, the population has grown up to 300 individuals in 1989-91. Thanks to research activities, poaching as a whole had declined and topi antelope moreover benefited 1n being regarded as a sacred animal. This density allowed to witness the two classical social systems known from East-Africa : large and long lasting territories associated with harems in mixed habitats versus small temporary territories grouped in leks on the plains. During the dry season, when topis are more observable, the daily activity is shared between 12 % in locomotion, 34 % in food collecting, 12 % in diurnal rest and rumination, and 42 % in nocturn al rest and rumination. As the dry season becomes harder, topis move northward, and scattered small groups join in larger aggregates and eventually reach, some 100 km ahead alongside the banks of the river Pendjari, burnt areas and residual pools where a flock of more than 120 individuals was seen in april-mai 1990.