Show us your hartebeests...

[Game Warden]

Please include when and where taken, tech specs and any other pertinent details about the sighting.

[Safaridude]

Coke's hartebeest - found in Kenya and Tanzania (Masai Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo, Nairobi National, Naivasha, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Natron/Longido, Tarangire, Mkomazi)

 

Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya - January '10

 

Check out the mutant fellow on the left! Tsavo East National Park, Kenya - February '12

 

 

 

Jackson's hartebeest (Uganda, Sudan)

 

Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda - February '13

 

 

 

Jackson's/Coke's hybrids - Nicholas Georgiadis' fine DNA work several years ago revealed three separate hybrids in Kenya

 

The most common hybrid, found in Laikipia - Loisaba Wilderness, Kenya - February '12

 

Hybrid found in Ruma National Park, Kenya - January '10 (resembles Jackson's more than Coke's)

 

Hybrid found in Meru National Park, September '06 (resembles Coke's more than Jackson's)

 

 

 

Lichtenstein's hartenbeest - found in the miombo woodlands of Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. Small populations in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa

 

Lufupa area of Kafue National Park, Zambia - August '08

 

 

 

Red hartebeest - found in arid areas of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Vagrants in Zimbabwe.

 

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa - April '08

 

 

 

Swayne's hartebeest (endemic to Ethiopia)

 

Senkelle Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary, Ethiopia - February '13

[africapurohit]

@@Safaridude I have seen hartebeest in Selous - I'm assuming they are Lichtenstein's?

 

(I do have photos somewhere)

[twaffle]

Those hartebeest are beautiful.

[Safaridude]

@@Safaridude

 

Excellent images and description as always!

 

Do you consider Lelwel's hartebeest (western Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Cameroon, C.A.R. And west Africa) as different from Jackson's?

 

In Ethiopia I heard people speaking of "Neumann's hartebeest", apparently an hybrid between Swayne's and Lelwel's.

 

We must set you out on a mission to take some pictures to Tora hartebeest (Sudan, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea) soon, so you can complete this beautiful gallery....

 

Great work!

 

I believe Jackson's are a subset of Lelwel's...

[CapitanBurton]

Murchison falls, Sept. 2011

[Rainbirder]

Odd one out!

Kongoni cow and Hirola Bull; Aruba Dam, Tsavo East, Kenya; July 2012.

 

 

 

Jackson's Hartebeest; Ol Pejeta, Laikipia, Kenya; July 2010.

 

 

Some authorities treat Jackson's Hartebeest as a synonym of Lelwel Hartebeest whilst others use it to refer to Kenya Highland Hartebeest which is a natural hybrid of Lelwel x Kongoni (Alcelaphus lelwel x Alcelaphus cokii). I gather that this natural hybrid is found in a few geographically separated populations (Ruma NP, Laikipia & ?Meru) -I suspect that these populations represent separate event hybridizations presumably with resultant hybrid swarms. Assuming the hybrid swarms have then become geographically isolated from the parent types they will over an extended period stabilize but will not be genetically or phenotypically identical to each other. Given sufficient time and isolation such populations could become new species but "Jackson's" has not been isolated anywhere near long enough for this.

 

Rift Valley geology is undoubtedly a major factor in forcing speciation.

[Game Warden]

I really enjoy the depth of knowledge being shared in these recent threads: much appreciated everyone.

[Safaridude]

Here is a summary of Georgiadis' work: http://www.rufford.org/rsg/Projects/NicholasGeorgiadis

[africapurohit]

Selous, Tanzania (2008). In the mornings, a small herd would gather near the shores of Lake Manzi to dig and feed on the fresh green shoots. You can see one here digging the ground with its horns and two others with clumps of mud on their horns.

 

[michael-ibk]

@@africapurohit :

 

I´m really enjoying all these beautiful pics you´ve been uploading, thank you for it!

[africapurohit]

Thank you @@michael-ibk - I've been very lazy uploading my photos (and videos) but I've had some free time over the last couple of weeks.

 

I'm not sure why they were digging the ground with their horns and covering them with mud? From the photos you can see the dark area where they would come to dig but then they would all move to the fallen tree to feed. I'll leave it to the experts to explain.

 

[Safaridude]

@@africapurohit

 

Lichtenstein's hartebeests' natural territorial displays/markings include "horning" the ground. I have seen both sexes do this. They also have conspicuous pre-orbital glands that secret a sticky substance. The dirt from the horning and the glandular substance get deposited on the flanks as the head makes contact with the sides (why they swivel their heads and do that, I don't know if anyone knows) to create those black marks.

[africapurohit]

Thanks @@Safaridude - at the time no one could explain the "horning" the ground behaviour, but your explanation make sense and you can clearly see the black marks on the right flanks of some of those individuals. This herd was definitely territorial around this patch of ground to the extent that zebra and wildebeest kept a distance until the hartebeests had moved on but they tolerated the impala to some extent.

[Safaridude]

Here is a male Jackson's hartebeest 'horning" in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. But his sides are clean. I believe the rubbing of the head and sides (resulting in dark patches on the sides) is particular to the Lichtenstein's hartebeest. I would love to interview one and find out why!

 

[Soukous]

Coke's Hartebeest or Kongoni

 

 

Red Hartebeest

 

[Peter Connan]

This one was looking rather bemused at the antics of the Wildebees (which is what was kicking up all the dust).

 

Red Hartebees, Kgalagadi

 

[Game Warden]

Who has more hartebeests to share?

[Treepol]

Red hartebeest, Olifantsblad, Etosha September 2014

 

[Tom Kellie]

Hartebeest in the Morning

Photographed at 8:05 am on 22 January, 2013 in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 200mm f/2.8L IS telephoto lens + EF 2x extender.

ISO 100, 1/125 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual Exposure.

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When the faded track we were following passed near this solitary hartebeest, I supposed that it would canter off with the distinctive hartebeest gait once we were near to it.

However, as this image shows, it remained motionlessly in place. Did it disdain our presence? Was there a greater concern occupying its thoughts? I was happy to obtain this image.

[Tom Kellie]

Meru Hartebeest

Photographed at 11:33 am on 20 July, 2015 in Meru National Park, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 400, 1/1250 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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This link from ​Safaritalk member @@nhanq's Murera Springs Eco-Lodge Web site offers details from @@Safaridude about Meru National Park's resident hartebeests — http://murera.se/cokes-hartebeest/, which are apparently hybrids.

This pair of hartebeest were near a large herd of waterbuck. Anthony mentioned that it was his first time to spot hartebeest in Meru. I liked their rich russet color, which matched Meru's red soil.

[Peter Connan]

Rietvlei Nature Reserve, last Saturday.

 

 

Nikon D750 + 500mm f4 @ f22, 1/320 and ISO 1000

 

 

Nikon D750 + 500mm f4 @ f5.6, 1/2000 and ISO 560

[Safaridude]

Western hartebeest in the Harmattan haze - Pendjari National Park, Benin - Jan 2015

[wenchy]

Few shy korrigum - pendjari np Benin

 

[offshorebirder]

Two male Coke's Hartebeest fighting in earnest. Nairobi National Park, January 2017. If you play the video, be sure to increase the resolution (to HD) from the default lower setting.