Wildebeest

True Wild Life | Wildebeest | The wildebeest is actually a subspecies of the antelope, despite it's bull-like appearance. There are two known species of wildebeest, both of which are native to Africa. The changing African seasons mean the wildebeest must migrate south in the winter, so the wildebeest can continue to graze on grass. Thousands of wildebeest all tend to migrate at once creating a wildebeest stampede.

The wildebeest is a primary source of prey for many large African mammals, that often pick out the weaker wildebeest from the outside of the herd. Wildebeest generally grow to around 1.5 tall but are relatively defenceless against dominant, carnivorous predators such as lions and crocodiles . The wildebeest are able to sense thunderstorms that are up to 30 miles away and the wildebeest follow these rains across Africa in what is commonly known as the great migration. The wildebeest trek around 30 miles everyday and approximately 1,000 miles a year as the wildebeest follow the rains in order to find the best grass.

When the baby wildebeest are born, they are often able to stand within a matter of minutes and these young wildebeest are soon able to run around and soon learn about the importance of protection in numbers. When the wildebeest are migrating around the African continent, the young wildebeest always stay very close to the mother wildebeest as it is easy for the young wildebeest to get lost when there are so many wildebeest travelling together or be preyed upon by watching predators.

Wildebeest inhabit large plains on the African savanna where there is plenty of food for the wildebeest to eat. Wildebeest are herbivorous animals and graze on grasses, leaves and shoots. Wildebeest live together in large herds in order to protect each other as on their own, wildebeest are defenceless and therefore vulnerable in the African wilderness. When danger is spotted, the wildebeest warn each using groaning calls and then run together creating a stampede, both to escape approaching predators and also to intimidate them.

Kudu

True Wild Life | Kudu | The kudu is a sub-species of antelope that is found inhabiting mixed shrub woodland, and savanna plains in eastern and southern Africa. The kudu relies heavily on close, dense thickets in which the kudu can escape to and hide when it feels threatened. There are two species of kudu in Africa which are the Lesser kudu and the Greater kudu. Both kudu species are closely related and look very similar in appearance but there are a few distinctive ways that the lesser kudu and the greater kudu can be distinguished from one another. The lesser kudu has ten white stripes which run vertically down the lesser kudu's body where the greater kudu can have anyway between 4 and 12 stripes. The greater kudu is also generally bigger than the lesser kudu

Kudus are herbivorous animals and therefore have a completely vegetarian diet. Kudus forage in woodland and around thickets of shrubs nibbling on leaves from the trees and bushes. Kudus also eat other varieties of plant life such as herbs, flowers, berries and fallen fruits. Kudus are prey to a number of predators such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs and the occasional large python that will hunt the smaller and more vulnerable kudu young. Kudu are able to run very fast but often have a hard time outrunning predators so the kudu rely on their agile ability to leap into forest and woodland where large carnivorous predators find it harder to chase them. The kudu will then often hide in woodland until the predator have eventually given up and left.

Kudus live in small herds of up to 24 kudu individuals. The kudu herds mainly consist of female kudus and their calves as male kudus tend to solitary and only come together with other kudus when it is time to mate. It has been known that groups of up to 8 male kudus will form a herd but this is very rare. The kudu mating season occurs at the end of the rainy season. The kudu gestation period is around 8 months after which time the female kudu will normally give birth to just one baby kudu. The baby kudus tend to be born around February and March when the grass is at it's highest and there is plenty of food to help the baby kudu calves to grow.

Kudus have both benefited and suffered from contact with humans. Humans find the kudu and easy target for hunting due to the fact that kudus tend to stop and look around after they have run away. Some local tribes people believe the kudu to be a sacred animal and therefore protect the kudu rather than killing it. Human settlements have also meant that the kudu habitat as changed and the kudu have had to move to other areas. This has actually done the kudu population the world of good as the kudu have been pushed into areas where there is a better source of water and therefore food.