Antelope of Southern Africa

Botswana's Blue Wildebeest

We saw relatively small numbers of wildebeest, which was surprising, given the huge numbers that populate the East African savannahs.  But, wildebeest in Botswana are a different species from those in East Africa and have very different habits.

Blue-bearded wildebeest of Botswana

White-bearded wildebeest of Tanzania

Whereas in East Africa, the wildebeest are part of the great animal migrations that follow the rains and grass in a huge circle across Northern Tanzania and Southern Kenya, pairing with large herds of zebra for mutual protection (the zebra are the scouts for the wildebeest; the wildebeest are the prey that divert the lions from the zebras), in Botswana, wildebeest live in small herds.  They used to migrate, but decades ago, when the Botswana government built fences across the land, the wildebeest couldn’t migrate anymore and 90% died.

Male wildebeest here are territorial and spend most of their time protecting their territory, so are often alone.  They try to collect a small herd of females during the mating season for breeding, but if the females wander outside a particular male's territory, that male will let them go, preferring to defend his domain from interlopers.

The Botswana wildebeest lacks the silvery beard so distinctive to the East African wildebeest.  Their beards are black (blue-bearded), matched by black, spiky manes.  They are built the same, though, just as ungainly as their East African cousins. They are not commonly found with the Southern Zebra.

Impala

Male impala

There are lots of beautiful, graceful, finely boned impala in Botswana.  Right now (fall--May), they are mostly organized into bachelor herds of males awaiting their chance to defeat a breeding male with a harem and herds of females with one dominant male.

A dominant male with a flock of females spends his time trying to keep all the females together to be available for mating when they come into heat.  He is so busy herding, protecting and mating with the females that he doesn't have enough time to eat all he needs to stay strong and dominant.  Consequently, our guides told us, a male will only keep his harem for 8 to 10 days before exhaustion makes him vulnerable to another eager male who drives him out and takes over the harem.

Male impala with harem

We watched 2 male impalas fighting.  They were brutal, slamming into one another with their horns thumping loudly until finally, after perhaps 10 minutes, one of them backed up and up and up and finally turned tail, leaving the victor to corral the females for himself.

Namibian Oryx

Oryx in Namib Desert

The Namibian Oryx is beautifully adapted to the harsh desert environment.  They, and other antelope living in the desert, do not need to drink more than once or twice a year, when they will slurp down 7 to 8 liters of water at once.  They get water from the moisture in the leaves of the plants they eat and from a gourd that puffs up with water whenever there is rain or heavy dew.  The Oryx drink the water from inside the gourd to tide them over the long dry spells.  During the hot parts of the day, they retire to the shade of a bush or acacia tree to slow down their breathing and their need for moisture.  Their movements are slow even when they’re out grazing in the evening.  Since there are few predators, they rarely have to run for their lives.