An overview of the white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaete taurnius albojabatus) with suggestions for future management

Abstract

The white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetea taurnius albojubatus) is a medium size, gregarious ungulate. Its natural habitat is the open grasslands of Tanzania and Kenya. It selectively consumes grasses which are less than ten centimeters high, preferring Themeda trianda. It will migrate approximately eighteen hundred kilometers annually to maintain its supply of short grasses and surface water. The herds are comprised of selectively anonymous aggregations with no hierarchy or pecking order. Temporary territories are established by some adult males during the rutting season which occurs over a three week period in April and May. After a gestation period of eight to nine months, some 80% of the calves are born on the Serengeti Plains over a three week period in January to February. Although predators and pathological conditions offer some threat to the wildebeest, its major threat is the swelling human population in East Africa. Without proper management planning for both the wildebeest and humans, there will be a severe conflict between the two species. If the wildebeest can serve a useful purpose to the sprawling human population, then perhaps, they will at least tolerate the wildebeests' presence. One suggestion for the wildebeests' management is to have the wildebeest serve as a food source for the general population in East Africa as well as an exported food stuff. A second suggestion is to preserve the herds as they are today allowing the animals to be a basis for the prosperous tourist industry. The revenue brought in by the tourist industry would then be used to improve the human condition in East Africa. In either case, without proper human population control, all management planning for the wildebeest is pointless. A key to successful human population control is education. Time is running out for both the human and wildebeest populations in the semi-arid nations of East Africa.