Blue Wildebeest / Brindled Gnu (Connochaetes taurinus)
Adult blue wildebeest vary in color, from deep slate or bluish gray, through light gray to brown-gray.
The main coat is slightly lighter in color than the underparts. Dark brown vertical bands mark the neck and forequarters, and from a distance may seem to be wrinkles in the skin.
Young are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult coloration at 2 months of age.
Both sexes possess horns. Extending outward to the side and then curving up and slightly inward, the horns may grow 1 to 1.3 feet (30 to 40 cm) in females and 2.7 feet (83 cm) in males. They are slightly broadened at the base and have no ridges.
I. DESCRIPTION:
- Adult blue wildebeest vary in color, from deep slate or bluish gray, through light gray to brown-gray.
- The main coat is slightly lighter in color than the underparts. Dark brown vertical bands mark the neck and forequarters, and from a distance may seem to be wrinkles in the skin.
- Young are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult coloration at 2 months of age.
- Both sexes possess horns. Extending outward to the side and then curving up and slightly inward, the horns may grow 1 to 1.3 feet (30 to 40 cm) in females and 2.7 feet (83 cm) in males. They are slightly broadened at the base and have no ridges.
II. GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE AND HABITAT:
- Wildebeest inhabit open and brush-covered savanna in south and east Africa.
- Extremely territorial, adult males may occupy their territories for a few weeks or for the entire year.
- Territories vary in size from 2.5 to 4 acres; males mark the boundaries with dung heaps, preorbital gland secretions and pawing of the earth.
- When competing over territory, males grunt loudly, shove their horns and make other displays of aggression, although these behaviors rarely signal serious fights.
III. DIET:
IV. LIFE CYCLE/SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
- Only males with a territory may mate.
- Families are formed by females and young in groups of 10 to 1,000 animals. Young males (under 3 years of age) form small bachelor groups, while mature males are generally solitary.
V. SPECIAL NOTES/ADAPTATIONS:
- Births are seasonal, occurring two to three weeks before the summer rains. This flood of youngsters prevents predators from decimating the new population, as they might if births were spread out over a longer period of time.
- A young wildebeest can stand just 15 minutes after birth, and can follow its mother shortly thereafter.
Related Content
 Order: Artiodactyla, Family: Bovidae The Tibetan antelope, or Chiru, is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. It is found between Ngoring Hu in China and the Ladakh region in India. Its range once extended to western Nepal, but none have been seen in Nepal for several years.
|
 The edmi, also known as the mountain gazelle, lives in mixed-sex herds of up to forty individuals.
They roam their arid habitat eating almost anything green.
In mid-winter, the males establish territories that they defend from rivals.
The male is generally larger than the female and has S-shaped horns more than twice as big.
Like all gazelles, the edmi is a slender, graceful animal with ...
|
 Red hartebeest vary in color from rich reddish brown to yellowish fawn, with a darker saddle from the shoulders to the base of the tail, broadening out over the rump.
The top of its muzzle and forehead are black, and it has a black stripe on the front of its shoulders that continues down onto its forelegs, and black high on its hind legs (Liechtenstein's hartebeest lacks these markings.). ...
|
 Thomson's gazelles are mainly grazers, feeding on grasses, herbs, and leaves of plants in the open plains. Their herds, which are composed of a dominant male, females, and their young, contain anywhere from five to fifty individuals.
The dominant male marks off his territory with urine and feces and regularly patrols its perimeter to keep his herd together. When he meets another male, they...
|
 Herds of ten to forty gemsbock are not uncommon and groups of up to a hundred have been recorded.
These animals are frequently found in association with other species of gazelles and sometimes zebras, foraging for grasses and leaves.
Gemsbock can go many days without water, but in the more arid parts of their range, they sometimes dig a trough in a dried-out river bed to reach the water tabl...
|
 Order: Artiodactyla, Family: Bovidae Ethiopian: Throughout central Africa, from south of the Sahara to north of the Kalahari deserts.
|
|
Add Feedback