Wildebeest

The wildebeest (/ˈwɪldɪbiːst/ WIL-dih-beest, /ˈvɪl-/ VIL-, plural wildebeest or wildebeests), also called the gnu (/njuː/ NEW), is an antelope in the genus Connochaetes. It belongs to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed horned ungulates. Connochaetes includes two species, both native to Africa: the black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu (C. gnou), and the blue wildebeest or brindled gnu (C. taurinus). Fossil records suggest these two species diverged about one million years ago, resulting in a northern and a southern species. The blue wildebeest remained in its original range and changed very little from the ancestral species, while the black wildebeest changed more as adaptation to its open grassland habitat in the south. The most obvious way of telling the two species apart are the differences in their colouring and in the way their horns are oriented. In East Africa, the blue wildebeest is the most abundant big-game species; some populations perform an annual migration to new grazing grounds, but the black wildebeest is merely nomadic. Breeding in both takes place over a short period of time at the end of the rainy season and the calves are soon active and are able to move with the herd, a fact necessary for their survival. Nevertheless, some fall prey to large carnivores, especially the spotted hyena. Wildebeest often graze in mixed herds with zebra, which gives heightened awareness of potential predators. They are also alert to the warning signals emitted by other animals such as baboons. Wildebeest are a tourist attraction but compete with domesticated livestock for pasture and are sometimes blamed by farmers for transferring diseases and parasites to their cattle. Some illegal hunting goes on but the population trend is fairly stable and some populations are in national parks or on private land. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists both as least-concern species. Wildebeest is Dutch for 'wild beast' or 'wild cattle' in Afrikaans (bees 'cattle'), while Connochaetes derives from the Greek words κόννος, kónnos, 'beard', and χαίτη, khaítē, 'flowing hair', 'mane'. Some sources claim the name 'gnu' originates from the Khoikhoi name for these animals, t'gnu. Others contend the name and its pronunciation in English go back to the word !nu: used for the black wildebeest by the San people. The wildebeest, genus Connochaetes, is placed under the family Bovidae and subfamily Alcelaphinae, where its closest relatives are the hartebeest (Alcelaphus spp.), the hirola (Beatragus hunteri), and species in the genus Damaliscus, such as the topi, the tsessebe, the blesbok and the bontebok. The name Connochaetes was given by German zoologist Hinrich Lichtenstein in 1812. Dutch settlers first 'discovered' wildebeest in about 1700, on their way to the interior of South Africa. Due to their resemblance to wild cattle, these people called them 'wild ox' or 'wildebeest'. The blue wildebeest was first known to westerners in the northern part of South Africa a century later, in the 1800s. In the early 20th century, one species of the wildebeest, C. albojubatus, was identified in eastern Africa. In 1914, two separate races of the wildebeest were introduced, namely Gorgon a. albojubatus ('Athi white-bearded wildebeest') and G. a. mearnsi ('Loita white-bearded wildebeest'). However, in 1939, the two were once again merged into a single race, Connochaetes taurinus albojubatus. In the mid-20th century, two separate forms were recognised, Gorgon taurinus hecki and G. t. albojubatus. Finally, two distinct types of wildebeest – the blue and black wildebeest – were identified. The blue wildebeest was at first placed under a separate genus, Gorgon, while the black wildebeest belonged to the genus Connochaetes. Today, they are united in the single genus Connochaetes, with the black wildebeest being named (C. gnou) and the blue wildebeest (C. taurinus). According to a mitochondrial DNA analysis, the black wildebeest seem to have diverged from the main lineage during the Middle Pleistocene and became a distinct species around a million years ago. A divergence rate around 2% has been calculated. The split does not seem to have been driven by competition for resources, but instead because each species adopted a different ecological niche and occupied a different trophic level. Blue wildebeest fossils dating back some 2.5 million years ago are common and widespread. They have been found in the fossil-bearing caves at the Cradle of Humankind north of Johannesburg. Elsewhere in South Africa, they are plentiful at such sites as Elandsfontein, Cornelia, and Florisbad. The earliest fossils of the black wildebeest were found in sedimentary rock in Cornelia in the Orange Free State and dated back about 800,000 years. Today, five subspecies of the blue wildebeest are recognised, while the black wildebeest has no named subspecies.