Editing Springbok (section)

=== Reproduction ===
[[File:Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis hofmeyri) suckling.jpg|thumb|A mother suckling her offspring]]
Springbok mate year-round, though females are more likely to enter [[oestrus]] during the rainy season, when food is more plentiful.<ref name=Skinner1996/> Females are able to conceive at as early as six to seven months, whereas males do not attain [[sexual maturity]] until two years;<ref name=rafferty/> rut lasts 5 to 21 days.<ref name=kingdon/> When a female approaches a rutting male, the male holds his head and tail at level with the ground, lowers his horns, and makes a loud grunting noise to attract her. The male then urinates and sniffs the female's [[perineum]]. If the female is receptive, she urinates, as well, and the male makes a [[flehmen]] gesture, and taps his leg till the female leaves or permits him to mate.<ref name=Bigalke1972/><ref name=David1978>{{cite journal | last = David | first = J.H.M. | year = 1978 | title = Observations on territorial behaviour of springbok, ''Antidorcas marsupialis'', in the Bontebok National Park, Swellendam | journal = [[African Zoology|Zoologica Africana]] | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 123–141 | doi=10.1080/00445096.1978.11447611| hdl = 10499/AJ24053 | doi-access = free }} {{open access}}</ref> [[Copulation (zoology)|Copulation]] consists of a single pelvic thrust.<ref>Skinner, G. N. "[https://journals.co.za/content/ATM_Monographs/10/1/AJA090799001_50?crawler=true The Springbok: Antidorcas marsupialis (Zimmermann, 1790). Ecology and physiology. Behaviour.]" Transvaal Museum Monographs 10.1 (1996).</ref>

[[Gestation]] lasts five to six months, after which a single calf (or rarely twins) is born.<ref name=Skinner1996/> Most births take place in the spring (October to November), prior to the onset of the rainy season.<ref name=kingdon/> The infant weighs {{cvt|3.8|to|5|kg}}. The female keeps her calf hidden in cover while she is away. Mother and calf rejoin the herd about three to four weeks after parturition; the young are weaned at five or six months. When the mother gives birth again, the previous offspring, now 6 to 12 months old, deserts her to join herds of adult springbok. Thus, a female can calve twice a year, and even thrice if one calf dies.<ref name=Bigalke1972/><ref name=Bigalke1970/> Springbok live for up to 10 years in the wild.<ref name=Cain2004/>