| The Black Wildebeest. |
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The picture show Blue Wildebeast
Photo Åke Sjöström © |
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Looks like someone took three differnt animals and put parts of them together to create a new animal. But dont let that strange look fool you. It is a very tough and capable animal!
They almost always go in a group. A mature bull will allow some very young bulls to be in his harem but as soon as they get a little to big he chase them away. The bulls that is not tough enough to challenge the "big boy" about the ladies form their own little group of pals that often stays close to the big heard, but not too close.
You often have a better chance of harvesting a bull in the male heard than the the mixed heard as the females with calves is very suspicious about everything that could be a possible threat to their calves.
Two characteristic things about the black wildebeest is the sneezing "hmmmmmmm" sound that it makes when it see something suspicious. It can easily continue with this hmmmmm for 15 minutes and just stare at you without moving an inch. And the slightest mistake you make will get you a hmmmmm, their eyesight is formidable, it is almost as they can see through bushes.
The second characteristic is, when spooked they run in a circle with their white tails flapping like mad! This make it very hard for any predator to concentrate on one animal. And it looks quite fun to. 
The are not string jumpers so a 30 meter shot is no problem. One mistake that is easy to make is to shoot to high. Their prominent hump make you think that the vitals are placed higher than they are. Aim LOW! I made the mistake of shooting to high. Luckily I saw the bull I shot three days later with a healing wound. And I saw him a week later with a healed wound. I know it was the same because one of his very unusual horns, both tips curved inward in a unmistakeable way. So I am very happy that my mistake did not kill him slowly and that he healed up quickly. |
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| The Black Wildebeest. |
| Facts. |
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| Horn: |
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Both the male and female carries horns. Male is larger with thicker horns |
| Weight: |
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Male up to 250 kilos / 550 pounds, female up to 200 kilos/ 440 pounds |
| Feeds on: |
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Mainly a grazer but sometimes eats leaves and bark.
Active: Most active in morning and evening, but it is not unusual with activity any time of day. More activity is seen in midday if the weather is cloudy and not so hot. |
| Age: |
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up to 20 years. |
| Color: |
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Chocolate brown to black with white tail. |
| Gestation period: |
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8-8.5 months. |
| Calfes: |
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1, being born in november & december. |
| Difference in sex: |
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Male is larger than female. |
| Name in Africans: |
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Blouwildebees |
| Latin name: |
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Connochaetes taurinius |
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