Springbok Herd Grows At Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Springbok, an African antelope, is making quite a splash at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium.

The herd has grown to 18 animals.

Groups of school kids lined up to watch them "pronk."

"Pronking is a behavior where the youngsters [are] stiff-legged and then just jump as [high as] they can and it's both a play behavior and it's also important in running and escaping from a predator," Ken Kaemmerer, curator of mammals at the Pittsburgh, said.

There have been five Springbok babies born at the zoo this spring. The oldest is month old.

"We put in ear tags to be able to identify them, because otherwise very quickly it would be difficult for us," Kaemmerer explained.

They've had so much success breeding Springbok, they are thinking about moving some of the animals to another conservation center to start a second group.

"We've had very good success," Kaemmerer said. "We have a pure group right here which is very important of the population of North America in general."

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