Colours of Wildlife - Lichtenstein's Hartebeest
Created | Updated Aug 11, 2013
Lichtenstein's Hartebeest
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
This is a coloured pencil drawing of a Lichtenstein's Hartebeest, Alcelaphus lichtensteinii. No relation to the Zucchinibeest, but it is a close relative of the Red Hartebeest and the Blue Wildebeest. Some systems of classification consider both this and the Red Hartebeest to be subspecies of a single species, the Hartebeest; most of the time it's considered a separate species, and sometimes even a separate genus, Sigmoceros, but personally I think this is going a bit far. It was named after the zoologist Martin Lichtenstein who travelled in southern Africa in the early nineteenth century.
This hartebeest differs from the Red and most other hartebeests in living in lush savannah country rather than open grassland or semi-desert. It prefers ecotones – transitional regions – between open woodland and lush wetland or floodplain grassland. The range of this species is focused around south-central Africa, from Angola, Zambia and the southern DRC eastward to Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and the far north of South Africa. In fact it has only recently been reintroduced into the Kruger National Park from Malawi. It has disappeared from most of its Southern African range as a result of hunting, habitat destruction and disease epidemics. It is perhaps extinct in southern Mozambique and Angola, and only about 50 animals remain in Zimbabwe.
'Unnatural' Coloration
Like other hartebeests this is a large antelope. Its shoulder height can reach 136 cm/4 ½ ft, and the bull can reach a weight of 200 kg/440 lbs. More typically it is around 175 kg/385 lbs (bulls) and 165 kg/350 lbs (cows). Its horns are quite short, and not raised up on a 'pedicel', an extension of the skull, as in the red hartebeest. In colour it is also reddish brown but not quite as rich. An interesting feature is that this hartebeest often has a dark patch along its sides right behind its shoulders. But this is not part of its actual coloration! It happens that these hartebeests often dig in the ground with their horns, and afterwards they wipe their faces on their flanks. The resulting smudge is darkest when there has been a recent bush fire. It washes off as soon as it rains.
Territoriality
Most of the time Lichtenstein's hartebeests live in small groups of up to 10 animals. These are usually comprised of a bull and a few of his cows and calves. They live in territories, and the more cows there are under the bull, the larger and better the territory they can keep. The bull will stand a distance away from the cows, sometimes perched up on a large termite hill, so that he can keep on the lookout for danger. If there is danger and the herd flees, he will keep the rear guard and stop to look around every now and then to see if the threat is still there. This behavior has made this species very vulnerable to hunters.
Sometimes during the rutting season the bull will leave his territory briefly to go on raids where he will try and score some cows off his neighbours. The cows, after being escorted into his territory, are closely watched and prevented from leaving. Bulls can fight fiercely with each other as well over cows or territories – these fights can last over an hour, at least one bull has been killed in a fight, and a bull has been seen to chase another for a distance of over 1.5 km/about a mile. Cows that are in oestrus can also fight, tussling horn-to-horn and mock-charging each other.
Territories are patrolled by the bull and marked by digging in the ground with his horns. He will go down on his 'knees' – actually, anatomically speaking, these are his wrists – and then dig with his head held sideways. He can dig up an area over a square metre/yard in area, making it visually conspicuous. At the same time he will secrete a smelly fluid from the glands he has on his face below his eyes, so these territorial 'diggings' have a scent component as well. These hartebeests also defecate in heaps, these also being beacons defining the territory.
Like wildebeests, hartebeests are quite vocal. They make sneezing-snorting sounds, and low and bellow like cattle when fighting. Also during aggressive displays they will stamp their hooves on the ground and swish their short, black tails from side to side.
Feeding and Breeding
Living in savannah, Lichtenstein's hartebeests eat mostly grass, but also browse a few trees and shrubs like Combretum, Grewia, Dichrostachys and Acacia. It's possible that they pick up some of these leaves from the ground while grazing, rather than browsing directly. They've also been recorded eating fruit like Kudu-berries and Sourplums. They show a preference for recently burnt areas. Not only, as one might expect, do they enjoy the fresh new grass shoots emerging after the fire, but they also apparently like eating scorched grass and ashes! Not quite like the Hooganod, but almost. They graze in early morning and late afternoon, keeping in the shade of trees during the hottest part of the day.
These hartebeests mate in the summer, and then carry their calves for eight months, giving birth in late winter or early spring, with a peak in August (remember this is the southern hemisphere). All calves arrive pretty much at the same time over all the different herds, so there's a sudden excess of baby hartebeests – predators will manage to pick off a few, but many will survive. They are born just one to a female, and weigh 15 kg/33 lbs at birth. They are pretty much all-legs since they have to be able to run and keep up with the rest of the herd. Baby hartebeests are creamy coloured and quite fluffy looking compared to the sleek adults. The mother will sometimes 'park' her baby in one place while she goes to drink or graze. They grow rapidly and are sexually mature at 16-18 months. Bull calves are usually chased out of the herd at the age of fifteen months, but cow calves usually remain.
