Connochaetes gnou

(Zimmermann, 1780)

Vernacular names
English : Black wildebeest
French : Gnou à queue blanche

Classification
Class : Mammalia
Order : Cetartiodactyla
Family : Bovidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
Adults can grow to a body length of 220 cm, shoulder height of 121 cm and weight of 160 kg. Thick curved and forward-upward facing horns. Small erect mane on neck, hair tufts on chin and nose. Coloration is dark brown, darker head.

Range and habitat
The species occurs in southern Africa, in Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa, in the central and central eastern parts of the country. Lives in subtropical and temperate grasslands.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : LEAST CONCERN
CITES : Not listed
Status : This species was hunted to near extinction during the XIXth Century. It has since been bred in private farms and still mostly lives there.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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