can survive after three years. In a study at Basle Zoo (Switzerland), where 43% of the offspring from captive breeding died before reaching the age of six months, the major causes of high juvenile mortality were found to be the spread of white muscle disease and deficiency of vitamin E and selenium in diets. The herd size, sex, interbreeding, and season did not play any role in juvenile mortality. The mother hides her calf while she goes out to feed, and returns mainly in the evening to suckle her young. She checks the calf's identity by sniffing its rump or neck. In the first month, suckling may occur for 8 minutes. The mother and calf communicate with low bleats. She licks her offspring, particularly in the perineal region, and may consume its excreta. Habitat and distribution The lesser kudu inhabits dry bushland regions. It is closely associated with Acacia and Commiphora thornbush in semiarid areas of northeastern Africa. The animal avoids open areas and long grass, preferring shaded areas with short grasses instead. Found in woodlands and hilly areas, as well, the lesser kudu is generally found at altitudes below ; though they have been recorded at heights about near Mount Kilimanjaro. While individual home ranges of these animals are in size, those of males have an average size of and those of females . The lesser kudu is native to Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, but it is extinct in Djibouti. Largely confined to the Horn of Africa today, the species historically ranged from Awash (Ethiopia) southward through southern and eastern Ethiopia, and most parts of Somalia (except the north and the northeast) and Kenya (except the southwest). It also occurred in southeastern Sudan and northeastern and eastern parts of Uganda and Tanzania. Evidence for its existence in the Arabian peninsula includes a set of horns obtained in 1967 from an individual shot in South Yemen and another in Saudi Arabia, as well as a recent analysis of early and middle Holocene rock art sites in Jubbah and Shuwaymis, Ha'il province, Saudi Arabia. Threats and conservation The lesser kudu's shyness and its ability to camouflage itself in dense cover has protected it from the risks of poaching. For instance, the lesser kudu is widespread in the Ogaden region, which is rich in dense bush, despite reckless hunting by local people. However, rinderpest outbreaks, to which the