Red hartebeest

Appearance

''Alcelaphus buselaphus caama'' is a large African antelope of the Bovidae family, 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 hartbeest, 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. 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. Little sexual dimorphism 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.
Hartebeests have an excellent sense of hearing and smell, although their sense of sight is poor. When alarmed, hartebeests elude confusion before running, by which they can reach a maximum speed of 55 km/h. Their evasion tactic is to run in a zigzag pattern, making it difficult for predators to catch them.

Habitat

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 plains and scrublands in the sub-Saharan African climate.

Reproduction

''A. buselaphus'' subspecies have a gestation 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.
Most females begin breeding after the age of two, and can conceive again 9 or 10 months after giving birth.

Food

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 grasses more efficiently. During the rainy season in southern Africa, the grass species ''Andropogon'' 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 tubers are inaccessible.

Predators

The few carnivores preying on hartebeests in southern Africa include lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, and cheetahs. 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.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 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.