Brindled gnu
The brindled gnu is colloquially also known as the brindled wildebeest or blue wildebeest. Like many other African mammals, this antelope belongs to the family Bovidae.
Lifestyle
They live in African tree savannas or open terrain, often in steppes, mainly in the east and south of the continent. They are very typical herd animals, often living in large groups of hundreds. These gnus are vegetarians, feeding almost exclusively on grass found on the vast plains. The herds, which are often very large, are forced to be almost constantly on the move in search of fresh food. They have a keen sense of rain and water, and since they can absorb some of the necessary moisture from moist or wet grasses, they are almost automatically drawn to areas where these conditions exist or are expected.
Appearance and Reproduction
The body weight of an adult white-bearded gnu can reach up to five hundredweight, and it is amazing how fast and agile these animals are in the wild. The shoulder height of adult animals is about one and a half meters, and in this genus of gnu, both sexes have horns that can grow up to 80 centimeters long. The life expectancy is up to 20 years. Sexual maturity begins after two years, and the gestation period lasts eight months. Usually, one young is born, which is suckled for up to about half a year.
From the neck to the rear part of the body runs a dark transverse stripe; otherwise, the animal's coloration is brownish to dark gray. The mane is dense, black, and long enough to cover the animal's neck. Juveniles have a lighter brown coat, which darkens as they reach sexual maturity. A notable feature is the already present dark dorsal line, which becomes more pronounced with age. The white-bearded gnu migrates once a year in literal giant herds from the high plains of the Serengeti to northern Masai Mara in Kenya.
