Geographic Range
Originally, black wildebeest, or white-tailed gnus, ranged the highveld temperate grasslands during the dry winter and the arid karroo during the rains. However, due to hide-hunting in the 19th century, they were reduced to living on protected game farms in southern Africa. (Estes, 1991)
Biogeographic Regions:
ethiopian (native ).
Habitat
Connochaetes gnou lived in grasslands similar to the habitat of the common wildebeest, Connochaetes taurinus, when it ranged free. However, with its thicker, darker coat, black wildebeest are able to range farther south than the Orange River, past the edge of the acacia savannah, into colder climates. They rarely seek shade, and need little winter shelter. (Estes, 1991)
These animals are found in the following types of habitat:
temperate ; tropical .
Terrestrial Biomes:
savanna or grassland ; scrub forest .
Physical Description
Mass
110 to 157 kg
(242 to 345.4 lbs)
Length
2 m (high)
(6.56 ft)
Black wildebeest are dark brown to black in color, males being darker in color than females. Both sexes become lighter in coat color in the summer, and develop shaggier coats in the winter. Like common wildebeest, C. gnou possesses a bushy beard and mane. However, C. gnou has a mane that stands up from its neck, rather than draping across the neck, like that of C. taurinus. This bristly mane is cream to white in color and black at the tips. The beard is black in color and stretches only along the lower jaw, not the length of the neck, as in C. taurinus. Additionally, black wildebeest have an area of longer, dark hair between the forelegs, covering the chest, and another patch of bristly black hair along the bridge of the nose. Male C. gnou stand 111 to 121 cm high and can be up to 2m in length, females are slightly smaller. Paired horns curve down, forward, and then up, like hooks, and are up to 78 cm in length (slightly thinner and shorter in females). The base of the horns is widened and flattened to form a protective shield. These differ from C. taurinus in that they project anteriorly, rather than laterally. Scent glands are present preorbitally, under the hair tuft, and on the forefeet.
Dental formula: 0/3, 0/1, 3/2, 3/3 (Talbot 1963) (Estes, 1991; Talbot and Talbot, 1963; Walker, 1968)
Some key physical features:
endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry .
Sexual dimorphism: male larger, ornamentation .
Reproduction
Breeding interval
Females breed once yearly.
Breeding season
The breeding season coincides with the end of the rainy season, February to April.
Number of offspring
1 to 1
Gestation period
8 to 8.50 months
Time to weaning
4 months (average)
Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
1.50 to 2.50 years
Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
3 years (average)
Dominant males defend access to a harem of females with which they mate. These territorial bulls are able to mate at any time, will call at twice the normal tempo, and may even froth at the mouth. There is suggestion that this calling helps to stimulate and synchronize female estrus, although there is also evidence that the lunar cycle triggers the mating peak. A rutting bull will never eat nor rest, as long as there are females within his territory. There are few courting rituals, besides males herding females with neck outstretched and chin in-line, urination on demand and flehmen (urine scenting). If a receptive female is uncooperative, a bull may rear in front of her with a full erection in a copulatory display. A receptive female will raise her tail when approached by a bull, swishing it across his face. Her tail remains up, sometimes, vertical, during mating, as the cow stands with her legs bowed, back arched. Females mate dozens of times with a male, often 2 or more times in a minute. (Estes, 1991)