Last month I learned a new word that describes what this springbok is doing.

Stotting, also called pronking or pronging, is a stiff-legged trot punctuated every few paces by a high jump.

Here’s a quick look at a stotting gazelle in real time.

And here’s a longer look at springboks in slow motion from the BBC.

Cheetahs make the springbok run.  What makes them stott?  One theory is that they do it to show off.

It’s certainly a “Look at me!” moment when a springbok jumps 13 feet into the air with his back arched and legs dangling.  When a male jumps he opens the pocket of skin that runs from his back to his tail, as you can see in the photo above.  This flashes his patch of white hair and, according to Wikipedia, emits a sweaty odor.

Springbok and Thomson’s gazelles aren’t the only animals that stott.  North American mule deer and pronghorn do it and young sheep stott, too, as a form of play.

Who knew?!

(photo by Yathin_sk on Wikimedia Commons.  Click on the image to see the original)