Talk:Steenbok

Improvement Advice

Hi GRM, thanks for getting in touch about advice. I'll do my best and try to point you to some better sources. I've only started editing things on Wikipedia recently so I'm still trying to find my feet!

I really like the text of the article. I was very impressed by the thoroughness of it as I was reading and couldn't think of any omissions, but then again I'm not an expert on mammal articles. Earlier I was simply going around and adding the mammal tag above to the discussion pages of mammals that exist on Mount Kenya.

I do have two comments though:

• I know they are really hard to get hold of on the public domain but a distribution map would be really good.
• I think that the references can be handled better. Instead of referencing like a paper journal article wikipedia has a specific referencing feature where it inserts a number in the relevant portion of text and clicking on the number takes you to the reference at the end of the article. It's really not hard to do. Large Spotted Genet is a stub, but uses this technique so it should be straight forward to emulate. Notice that the conservation status box cites IUCN and the appropriate webpage. Two extra lines in the definition of the taxobox do this. If you need help let me know and I'll be happy to do this for you, but it's really not that hard and good practice.

Finally there are three sources for help that I can think of. I list them in order of increasing scrutiny.

• WikiProject Mammals Talk Page seems like a good place to get people who know more than me but are interesting in the subject matter to look over the article. It is the discussion page of WikiProject Mammals
• Wikipedia:Requests for feedback is the official location on Wikipedia to ask for advice on a new article etc. The start of this page explains more what it is about.
• Wikipedia:Peer review is where to go for advice on getting your article to be feature quality. Again the start of the page explains everything.

Given the excellence of the text and images, with my limited experience I suggest fixing the references, then asking on the request for feedback. After seeing what they say maybe you could go for the peer review?

If you are interested in other articles of this type, then have you considered becoming a member of WikiProject Mammals? All you have to do is add your name to the page to show that you're working on these topics. At the moment there are only 19 people! A surprising amount of mammal articles seem to be stubs. :(

If you have any questions or want me to help out with anything let me know.

Mehmet Karatay 21:27, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Steenbok have large, distinctive(???) ears with "finger-marks" on the inside. The females do not have horns.

What about removing the gallery and having the female steenbok image to the side of the breeding section? I know it doesn't relate to that section but I think it would make the article look more visually appealing. I also think that using the picture to convey some information would be good. Wikipedia:Captions explains a bit more about this technique. I've tried to use in on my own project Mount Kenya. To the right there is an example of what I had in mind. One thing to bear in mind is to try to explain what the image is explaining to someone who can't see the image, either because they are having the page read to them or they are using a text browser. The point isn't to describe the photo.

Unless Namibian steenboks look different, I don't think it is important to say where the photo was taken. Clicking on the image will show this anyway. If it is important I think you should mention why. Note that if you want to specify a specific size add 250px| after the right| in the image link. You can of course change 250 to whatever you want. If you write 200x500px then the image will still retains its proportions but be scaled so that its largest side is the size you specify.

I think the reference in the article work better now. The system is easier to use than what you have done. Once you have named a source you simple have to write <ref name=NAME/> each time you refer to it. Also I've found out a few days ago that in the reference section all you have to type is {{reflist}} or {{reflist|2}} if you want two columns of references if the list is longer.

Mehmet Karatay 20:14, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Response to request for feedback (reference copy)

• It seems decent, although a little on the brief side. You could compare it to some of the entries under Wikipedia:Featured articles#Biology.2C medicine and psychology for additional ideas. BTW I got within 20-30m of one of these little creatures a few years back—it really is amazing that they can survive with so many superb predators around. — RJH (talk) 20:01, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
  • Might these sources be of interest? They appear to have some information that is not currently in the article. — RJH (talk) 16:51, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
    • http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Raphicerus_campestris.html
    • http://www.sa-venues.com/wildlife/wildlife_steenbok.htm
    • http://medicine.ucsd.edu/CPA/steen.htm Comparative Placentation (K. Benirschke)
    • http://www.huntinafrica.com/forum/animals.asp?animal_id=25
    • http://www.safaribwana.com/ANIMALS/animpages/steenbok.htm hunting advice!?!
    • http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/12436/all -- African wild dogs are also predators
    • http://www.waza.org/virtualzoo/factsheet.php?id=119-009-032-001&view=Antelopes&main=virtualzoo Info for zoos

Distribution Map

Hi. I digitised your distribution map and was wondering what you think. If you want me to move any of the boundaries let me know. Mehmet Karatay 18:10, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Image swapping rational

I just had a look at the fr:Raphicerus campestris and de:Steinböckchen where they've swapped the two photographs on the page. I feel that the bottom female photo works much better in the taxobox, as she isn't hidden behind grass and is lit with a nice light. I was bold and swapped the two images. Mehmet Karatay 13:18, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Copy-edit

I copy-edited the article to try to make the text flow better at the cost of conciseness. If you don't agree with anything then I can explain why I made the change I'm sure we'll reach some agreement. I think eventually the article needs a longer lead section, so that some of the information below is summarised before the contents. I hope you like the changes. Mehmet Karatay 16:26, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

File:Raphicerus campestris female (Etosha, 2012).jpg to appear as POTD

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Raphicerus campestris female (Etosha, 2012).jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on December 5, 2014. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2014-12-05. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. Thanks! — Crisco 1492 (talk) 03:05, 14 November 2014 (UTC)

Picture of the day

The steenbok (Raphicerus campestris) is a species of small antelope, generally standing 45–60 centimeters (16–24 inches) at the shoulder, commonly found in Africa. They live in a variety of habitats, from semi-desert to open woodland and thickets, and feed on low-level vegetation and roots. These common animals are typically solitary, except during mating season.Photograph: Yathin S Krishnappa