Springboks have a special party trick called 'pronking'. They suddenly leap straight up into the air - sometimes 2 metres high - with all four legs stiff and their backs arched. They can do it again and again, bouncing across the grass like they are on springs.
Scientists are not completely sure why springboks pronk. One leading idea is that they do it to show off how fit and healthy they are, so that predators decide to chase someone slower. Another is that it lets them see further over the long grass to spot trouble.
Springboks are about the size of a medium dog and weigh roughly the same as a 10-year-old child. They have soft brown backs, white bellies, and a dark stripe running along each side. When they pronk, a hidden white patch on their back fluffs out like a flag.
On Africa's open plains, springboks used to gather in enormous herds - the biggest herds anyone had ever seen, with hundreds of thousands of animals together. The herds are smaller today, but a group of springboks pronking together is still one of the great sights of South Africa.

