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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
|
| COMMON
NAME: |
Eastern
white-bearded wildebeest, gnu |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Artiodactyla |
| FAMILY: |
Bovidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Connochaetes
(flowing beard) taurinus (like a bull) albojubatus
(white mane) |
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|
|
| DESCRIPTION: |
This
subspecies of wildebeest has a white beard, unlike
most other subspecies which have black beards; both
sexes have smooth, cowlike horns. |
|
| SIZE: |
|
| MALE |
1.25-1.45
m (50-58 in.) at the shoulder |
| FEMALE |
1.15-1.42
m (46-57 in.) at the shoulder |
|
| WEIGHT: |
|
| MALE |
165-274
kg (360-600 lb.) |
| FEMALE |
140-230
kg (308-510 lb.) |
|
| DIET: |
Prefer
short grasses, but will eat taller grasses during
the dry season; generally drink twice a day |
|
| GESTATION: |
240-255
days |
| NURSING
DURATION |
Young
nurse for 4-9 months |
|
| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
|
| MALE |
At
3-4 years |
| FEMALE |
Around
2.5 years |
|
| LIFE
SPAN: |
Up
to 20 years in zoos |
|
| RANGE: |
Kenya
and Tanzania in eastern Africa |
|
|
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
|
| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Lower
Risk/Conservation Dependent |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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|
| 1. |
Each
year an ancient spectacle, the single largest
movement of wildlife, begins. White-bearded wildebeest
migrate in search of fresh pastures and water.
Such migrations may contain as many as one million
individuals.
|
| Up
to half a million plains zebra and Thomson’s
gazelles often travel with the gnus. In November,
the rains have resumed in the south and the green
grasses of the North are depleted, the masses surge
back to the fresh pastures. |
| This
migration takes the form of long columns, stretching
thousands of miles. Visitors and natives say the
ground trembles under their stampeding hooves. |
|
Predators
such as lions and hyenas follow the herd while
crocodiles wait hungrily in the rivers. They wait
for a lone unhealthy gnu or youngster to break
away from the others; wading into a herd of over
one million hoofed animals for a meal is too dangerous.
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|
|
| 2. |
Wildebeests
live in more densely packed herds than any other
large mammal, except for humans. |
|
|
| 3. |
Eighty
percent of calves (sometimes up to half a million)
are born within a 2-3 week period at the start of
the rainy season. Since predators can only take
a limited number of prey at any given time, there
is a higher chance of survival for each individual
calf. |
|
|
| 4. |
Calves
can stand and run within 3-7 minutes after birth.
They follow their mothers as they move with the
herd. |
|
|
| 5. |
At
night white-bearded wildebeest sleep on the ground
in rows; this provides them with the security
of being in a group while allowing them space
to run in case of an emergency.
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| 6. |
Wildebeests
are also called gnus because their call sounds like
gnu gnu. |
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| White-bearded
gnu have increased greatly in number in recent years.
In 1950, a census revealed approximately 100,000
individuals in the Serengeti region; today about
1.5 million white-bearded wildebeest are believed
to be present. However, the growth of human settlements
along their northern migration routes have begun
to disrupt their natural patterns. The grazing and
trampling of the grasses by such large herds helps
to stimulate grass growth, while their waste provides
nutrients for the soil and plants. Wildebeest are
also an important food source for predators such
as lions and hyenas. |
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|
|
| |
|
|
|
Estes,
Richard. The Safari Companion. Post Mills,
Vermont: Chelsea Green Pub. Co., 1993.
|
| |
| Gotch,
A.F. Mammals-Their Latin Names Explained.
Poole, U.K.: Blandford Press Ltd., 1979. |
| |
| Nowak,
Ronald (ed.). Walker's Mammals of the World.
Vol. II, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press,
1991. |
| |
| Parker,
S.P., ed. Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals.
Vol. 5. New York: McGraw Hill Pub. Co., 1990. |
| |
| Spinage,
C.A. The Natural History of Antelopes. New
York: Facts on File Pub., 1986. |
| |
| Stuart,
C. and T. Field Guide to the Mammals of Southern
Africa. Florida: Ralph Curtis Books Pub., 1988. |
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