A small antelope that lives among rocks and leaps across rocky ground.
It has a stocky body, large rounded ears and a short tail. It can walk on the tips of its hooves on rocky ground.
Klipspringer feeding was observed in Yetefet Woyenat Forest, Ethiopia, from September 2017 to August 2018. Across 2,880 hours of feeding observations, the animals ate eight plant species. The shrub Carissa edulis was the most consumed in both seasons, making up 23.5% of the dry-season diet and 21.3% in the wet season.
The plant parts eaten also differed: young leaves made up 38.9% of the recorded diet, mature leaves 35.5%, and shoots 18.42%. Young animals ate young leaves most often, while adults more often selected mature leaves. Activity records showed the most feeding around 08:00–09:00 and 16:00–17:00, with more resting during the middle of the day.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
A field study in Yetefet Woyenat Forest, Ethiopia, reported human-activity disturbance and found that klipspringers relied mainly on browsing. Maintaining forest and shrub areas that support their feeding plants is relevant to habitat protection at this site.