The red hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus caama''), also called the Cape hartebeest or Caama, is a subspecies of the

hartebeest The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an African antelope. It is the only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two sometimes considered to be indepen ...

found in

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

. More than 130,000 individuals live in the wild. The red

is closely related to the

tsessebe The common tsessebe or sassaby (''Damaliscus lunatus lunatus'') is the southern, nominate subspecies of ''Damaliscus lunatus'', although some authorities have recognised it as an independent species. It is most closely related to the Bangweulu ts ...

and the

topi ''Damaliscus lunatus jimela'' is a subspecies of topi, and is usually just called a topi. It is a highly social and fast type of antelope found in the savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains of sub-Saharan Africa. Names The word ''tope'' or '' ...

. ''Alcelaphus buselaphus caama'' is a large African

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

of the family Bovidae, one of ten subspecies; it is sometimes treated as a separate species, ''A. caama''. Commonly known as the red hartebeest, it is the most colorful hartebeest, with black markings contrasting against its white abdomen and behind. It has a longer face that other subspecies, with complex curving horns joined at the base.hartebeest
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. The average weight of a male is about 150 kg, and female is 120 kg. Their average shoulder height is 135 cm, and horns are 60 cm long. The life expectancy of a red hartebeest is around 19 years.
. SMJ Safaris. 2012. Little

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

is noted between males and females, showing no distinct identifiable physical features, but body size is slightly affected. Horn size, however, expresses more dimorphism between males and females, as males fight and defend themselves for sexual selection. Thus, male skull weight and circumference is slightly greater than that of the female.Capellini, I. (2007). "Dimorphism in the hartebeest. Sex, size and gender roles: evolutionary studies of sexual size dimorphism", pp. 124–132, DJ Fairbairn, WU Blanckenhorn & T. Szekely (Eds). Hartebeests have an excellent sense of hearing and smell, although their sense of sight is poor. When alarmed, hartebeests flee, reaching a maximum speed of 55 km/h. Their evasion tactic is to induce confusion by running in a zigzag pattern, making it difficult for predators to catch them.A Guide to the: Red Hartebeest – ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''
. EcoTravel.co.za 2012.

Life cycle

Breeding

''A. buselaphus'' subspecies have a

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...

period of eight months, and they give birth to single calves. They typically give birth in a seasonal pattern before the summer rain begins. After birth, calves are hidden in dense vegetation before joining a group to increase their chances of survival from predators, since they are weak."Red Hartebeest"
Kruger National Park. Most females begin breeding after the age of two, and can conceive again 9 or 10 months after giving birth.Hartebeest: Alcelaphus buselaphus
. ThinkQuest. 1988.

Diet

Red hartebeests are grass feeders, which is evidenced by their long snouts, which give the advantage of an improved cropping ability to acquire and

masticate Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion, and it increases the surface area of foods to allow a more efficient break down by enzymes. During the mastication process, t ...

grasses more efficiently. During the rainy season in southern Africa, the grass species ''

Andropogon ''Andropogon'' ( common names: beard grass, bluestem grass, broomsedge) is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to much of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as southern Europe and various oceanic islands. Over 100 spec ...

'' is in abundance and is the main source of dietary consumption. As grazers, their diets fluctuate seasonally, as they consume higher-quality, green primary production in wet seasons, and lower-quality sheath material in the dry seasons. Hartebeests are considered less water-dependent than most alcelaphines, only needing to drink water when melons and

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

s are inaccessible.

Predators

The few carnivores preying on hartebeests in southern Africa include

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

s, and

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

s. However, hartebeests are not the primary food source of any of these species, particularly spotted hyenas. Lions only consume hartebeests for about 7% of their diets, hyenas consume hartebeests in 3.5%, cheetahs consume hartebeests in 1.75%, and leopards consume hartebeests in 6.25% of their diets. Lions typically prey on adult males, while both spotted hyenas and leopards tend to prey on young calves. These predatory habits are likely attributed to the difficulty of catching nomadic hartebeests, as well as the better success hyenas and leopards have with catching calves.

Environmental threats

Hunting is always an issue to consider in rural areas, since little enforcement of animal protection laws is possible, or there can be no established regulations at all. Hunting hartebeests for survival is an ancient practice:

persistence hunting Persistence hunting is pursuit until the prey can no longer flee and succumbs to exhaustion or heat stroke. History and definition Some researchers have insisted that the point of persistence hunting is not to induce exhaustion but specific ...

in the hottest part of the day was most common, when hunters could catch the animal at its weakest point. Over the past 20 years, however, one of the only places where persistence hunting still occurs is in central Kalahari.

Habitat and demographics

The red hartebeest is primarily found in southwestern Africa. Southern Africa's dissected topography, geologic diversity, climate oscillations, and mosaic of distinct vegetation types has been the primary means for radiation and diversification amidst hartebeest species, which has led red hartebeests to vary slightly in their capacity to consume the diets they do. Most ungulates in Africa are nomadic, as they are dependent on food sources that become depleted if they stay in one place. ''A. buselaphus'' lives in herds in open

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

s and

scrublands Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ma ...

in the

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

n climate.

Evolutionary history

In the early 1900s, "antelope" was a very broad, ambiguous name given to most hollow-horned ruminants besides oxen, sheep, and goats. Of these antelopes found in Africa, Asia, and Europe, Africa has the most diverse populations of antelopes, with horn lengths ranging from six feet long, to a quarter of an inch. ''A. b. caama'', from the family Bovidae, used to be categorized as the subfamily of Bubalinae, but are now classified under the subfamily Alcelaphini. This youngest of all African bovid subfamilies dates back 5 million years ago, and has exhibited great diversification. The oldest fossil of ''Alcelaphus'' has been dated to 740,000 years ago. Besides ''Alcelaphus'', the three other genera from the Alcelaphini are ''Beatragus'', ''Connochaetes'', and ''

Damaliscus ''Damaliscus'', commonly known as tsessebes, is a genus of antelope in the family Bovidae, subfamily Alcelaphinae The subfamily Alcelaphinae or tribe Alcelaphini of the family Bovidae contains wildebeest, hartebeest, bonteboks, and sever ...

''. Over millions of years, the Alcelaphini have diversified to fill certain niches and have spread to different habitats across the continent of Africa. The genus ''Alcelaphus'' is suggested to have evolved and diversified due to climate variability over a range of habitats in the

Pleistocene era The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

. About 500,000 years ago, the Alcelaphini diverged into northern and southern

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

s, while the northern clade diverged once more into eastern and western lineages 400,000 years ago. The species ''Alcelaphus caama'' originated from the southern clade, also including ''lichtensteinii'', in Namibia. The northern clade comprises the rest of the hartebeest complex. Diversification of these species has been solely attributed to environmental and habitat changes due to global warming around 250 to 195 thousand years ago, and global cooling 175 to 125 thousand years ago.

Gallery

Image: Alcelaphus caama.jpg, From

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Image: 2012-red-hartebeest.jpg, Cow and calf in

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area in southern Africa. The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks: * Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in S ...

File:Hartebeest (facing) Addo.JPG, Morning light highlighting the reddish colour in

Addo Elephant National Park Addo Elephant National Park is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Gqeberha in South Africa and is one of the country's 20 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfron ...

File:Hartebeest (side-on) Addo.JPG, Side profile showing characteristic curving horns

References

External links

National Geographic Video

{{Taxonbar, from=Q854779

red hartebeest The red hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus caama''), also called the Cape hartebeest or Caama, is a subspecies of the hartebeest found in Southern Africa. More than 130,000 individuals live in the wild. The red hartebeest is closely related to t ...

Mammals of South Africa Mammals of Botswana Mammals of Namibia Mammals of Angola Mammals of Southern Africa

Bovids of Africa Subspecies