Blue Wildebeest Wikipedia

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• published: 13 Jan 2015
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Explore the Wild is a Nature series produced by www.VideoFort.com in partnership with REP Interactive. In this series, VideoFort will take you on a tour of the world's most exotic locations and teach you about the planet's most exotic animals. In this episode on Explore the Wild, we feature Blue Wildebeests. You will learn interesting facts about the species and their natural habitat. http://www.VideoFort.com Blue Wildebeest The blue wildebeest also called the common wildebeest or the white-bearded wildebeest is a large antelope and one of two species of wildebeest. The name "blue wildebeest" derives from a conspicuous silvery-blue sheen to its shorthaired hide, differentiating this species from the plainer black wildebeest. The wildebeest is a member of the antelope family. It has a large, box-like head with curving horns. The front end of the body is heavily built, while the hindquarters are slender with spindly legs. They have a gray coat and a black mane as well as a black or white beard. There are several races of wildebeest. The species forming the large herds of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem of Kenya and Tanzania are known as the western white-bearded wildebeest, while the eastern white-bearded races inhabits Kenya and Tanzania east of the Gregory Rift. The brindled, or blue, race occurs south of the Zambezi River. Wildebeest are continually on the move, as they seek favorable supplies of grass and water. The famous Serengeti population of wildebeest is a very large nomadic group. This group makes a migratory circle of 500 to 1,000 miles each year, beginning right after the calving season at the start of the year. They are relentless in their advance and many are injured, lost (especially calves), or killed. By the end of the dry season, the wildebeest have almost exhausted the grazing lands and return to the Serengeti plains as the rains begin. The majority of female wildebeest give birth around the same time. About 80% of the females calve within the same two- to three-week period, creating a glut for predators and enabling more calves to survive the crucial first few weeks. The wildebeest’s habitat is threatened by fragmentation, which is caused when land is fenced off, bisected by a highway, such as the proposed Serengeti Highway—a plan opposed by African Wildlife Foundation—or divided by other methods.