Talk:Lechwe

Image: Black Lechwe

Does anyone have a photo of Black Lechwe that could be used on this page?
—GRM 20:53, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

We have added two black lechwe photos to the gallery. We don't have a close up of an individual, which would be a good addition. Mehmet Karatay 16:41, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Range

The comment "A single animal may have been recorded in... Australia..." seems more like trivia than useful content. Clearly that individual was introduced, and a single animal nine years ago does not even hint at an established population. I think that line should be deleted, but as a layperson, I don't think I should be the one to do it. Raran75 (talk) 04:41, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

Lechwe names in the lede and Taxonomy section

The current lede has an innaccuracy:

'The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe (Kobus leche) is an antelope found in wetlands of south-central Africa.'

The red lechwe is not an alternative name for lechwe or southern lechwe. It is a subspecies. From the ASM Mammal Diveristy Database (MDD) page on Kobus leche at https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006247/ it is apparent that only 'Southern Lechwe' is an alternative to 'Lechwe' as the overarching common name, and red lechwe is a subspecies of the same rank as the the black, Kafue, Roberts, and Upemba lechwes. So I think the lede therefore should be:

'The lechwe or southern lechwe (Kobus leche) is an antelope found in wetlands of south-central Africa.'

It would also be helpful to flag after this sentence that the subspecies are listed below in the taxonomy paragraph, so add a second sentence:

'Several subspecies are listed in the Taxonomy section below.'

I also think the Taxonomy section should align with MDD and IUCN Redlist as these are the more accessible authorities for non-specialists, rather than Groves & Grubb 2011. This means listing K. l. leche, K. l. anselli, K. l. kafuensis, K. l. robertsi, and K. l. smithemani. With a sentence to explain that the MMD nomenclature differs from Groves & Grubb 2011 for reasons given on its website.

(BTW the MMD's explanation is: "Taxonomy notes: includes anselli (which was recently described), kafuensis, robertsi, and smithemani, which were considered distinct by Groves & Grubb 2011; for additional information regarding the MDD's decision to not follow the Groves & Grubb 2011 Ungulate Taxonomy, see 'Subjective decisions' on the 'About' tab. There MMD says: ' Groves and Grubb (2011) was based primarily on qualitative morphological diagnoses with small sample sizes, it has since become controversial in the mammalogical community (e.g., (Holbrook 2013; Gutiérrez and Garbino 2018) ).)

A couple of other points for the Taxonomy section: MMD does not have 'Common red lechwe' , so I think 'Common' should be deleted.

It would also be helpful to add at the end of the taxonomy section that the 'southern' in 'Southern Lechwe' is there to disintinguish the species from the Nile Lechwe, this makes it clear why 'southern lechwe' is the alternative common name for Kobus leche. Kalulu Sydney (talk) 02:44, 27 June 2026 (UTC)