Wildebeest: White bearded and Blue Wildebeests
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A small portion of the Whitebearded Wildebeest migration-#1: Early morning, as far as the eye can see they are wending their way in a continuous trek, anticipating where the rains will be falling that bring up the young grass shoots, of which they are so fond. The migration inscribes a 1500-mile ovoid, that starts in --and returns to--the southern plains of the Serengeti (the word means 'Endless Plains'): Tanzania in late January & February, in July-August, it will cross the Mara River to graze in the Masai Mara (Kenya). Thus, their migration inscribes a rough ovoid of about 1500 miles. It has been a continual process of seeking grass & water, and breeding, by the over one million individuals, since the pleistocene 10,000 years ago. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest migration (#2): The wildebeests are accompanied by 150,000 zebra, & perhaps, by 150,000 of various antelope species. During January-March there will be a birthing of 2-300,000 foals (see following images). Naturally, all this activity attracts the predators (lions, leopard, cheetah, hyenae, jackels) who take a large toll of the newborn, and of some of the adults as well. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (3)
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration-(#3): My wife and I have witnessed a football-field-sized area which were strewn with carcasses of partially eaten foals, killed and left by hyenas who were too glutted to eat any more. I suppose this is Nature's way of preventing over-population of the species. Their flesh will not be wasted; it will be consumed by the many carnivores & vultures. The migration is one of the greatest and most awesome sights to behold in Africa. My wife & I have been fortunate to witness it three times. Both sexes of wildebeests bear horns. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#4)
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#4): A small part of the migration stops for water at a small stream. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#5)
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#5): The adult males stake out a territory in the path of the migration where they try to seize any cow passing through, and mate with her. They exhaust themselves chasing out other bulls who keep coming into their area for the same purpose. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest migration (#7)-Birthing:
Whitebearded Wildebeest migration (#7)-Birthing: The next four images illustrate the mares with their new-born foals who are no more than 15 mins.old. On some of the images, one can see umbilical cords on the foals, and the after-births still protruding from the mares. After birth, the mother pulls off the amniotic sac with her teeth, and severs the cord. She instinctively knows that the foal and herself are most vulnerable, and so she forces her newborn to stand up. Within 5-6 minutes the foal is standing on its wobbly legs. In another 10 minutes, the foal is able to run off with its mother and they rejoin--and keep up with--the herd . [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#8)-Birthing
Whitebearded Wildebeest migration (#8)-Birthing: Newborn on wobbly legs. During this brief postbirthing interval, the mother and the foal must strongly imprint one another with their scents. Scent-recognition will be the only means by which the foal and mother will recognize each other after they rejoin the herd. The newborns have extremely poor eye-sight, and so they must not get separated from their mothers. No other female will accept a foal that does not have her scent. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeast Migration-Birthing (9):
Whitebearded Wildebeast migration-Birthing (9): In a few minutes the newborn is able to walk over to its mother and begin to nurse. It is during this interval that the foal and mother must acquire a good scent-imprint of each other. I have seen many lost one week- old foals wandering around trying to find their mothers. Because of their terrible eye-sight, Babs, my wife, and I have seen them even walk up to our vehicle, and in one instance, walk up to a young lion: a few minutes later, it was dead and hanging by the neck from the lion's jaws. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
White-Bearded Wildebeest Migration-Birthing (#10)
White-Bearded Wildebeest migration-Birthing (#10):This baby, with its terrible eyesight, is actually seeking to nurse a male that has strayed into the birthing group. On the left, the mother, who has not yet expelled the afterbirth, will chase off the bull and gather the newborn to nurse it, and begin the imprinting process. As I emphasized prevously, an absolutely necessary event for its survival. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeast Migration (#11):-Birthing
Whitebearded Wildebeast migration (#11)-Birthing: In 20 minutes after birth, this calf is able to run off with its mother to join--and keep up with--the herd. Note the umbilical cord on the foal. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeast Migration (#12)
Whitebearded Wildebeast migration (#12): This nursing baby is about a week old. It is not only getting fed, but it is also reenforcing each other's scent-imprinting. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#13)
White-Bearded Wildebeast migration (#13): The faun is about a week old, but it has gotten separated from its mother; therefore, it is doomed. It will be taken by a predator or starve. Note that this week-old is starving, because it hasn't been able to nurse. No other mother will adopt this youngster; it has the wrong scent! as I previously stated, the young have very, very poor eyesight: Frequently, we have actually seen them walk up to a vehicle thinking it was its mother, and in one case, to a young lion---shortly, the young lion was parading around with the dead youngster in its jaws. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
The skin of these Blue Wildebeests is still light in color, indicating that they are young adults, except for the younger, last one. The easy differential features are the black beard, the transverse black stripes on their sides.The two in front are young adults, because their skin color is still light, but darkening. The last individual in the group is a juvenile & lacks the body stripes. The Whitebearded Wildebeest (Gnu) has the white beard & darker body color. [Chobe NP, Botswana].
Two male Blue Wildebeests on their knees 'horn-wrestling' [Savuti, Chobe NP, Bottswana].
The skin of this male Blue Wildebeest is darkening indicating that it is mature. [South Luangwa NP, Zambia]
A mature, dark-skinned female Blue Wildebeest. [Sabi Sabi, Marine Camp, South Africa].
A good close-up view of a mature Blue Wildebeest bull standing under a bush. [Quando, Botswana].
We saw this birthing of a Blue Wildebeest. The mother is on the left, and the one on the right will soon drop her foal. The baby has succeeded in standing, after being prodded by its mother, within 10-12 minutes of birth. Please see the next image. [Botswana].
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#6):
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#6): Another bull with the same intentions as the previous one. It's mating season, and the males scent the females' readyness, they are stimulated to make unusual gyrations to attract females passing through their territory. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
Whitebearded Wildebeest Migration (#6)
Whitebearded Wildebeest migration (#6): The mother has just given birth and is prodding the newborn to encourage it to stand up to strengthen its legs. To survive, the newborn must strongly imprint its mother's scent and vice-versa. This mutual imprinting will occur when the newborn nurses and nuzzles up to the mother. Within 15-20 minutes, it must---and will---be able to run fast enough to keep up with the herd. [Serengeti, Tanzania].
The newborn Blue Wildebeest stands with her mother as they all prepare to move off and rejoin the herd. Although the baby is looking in our direction, it is meaningless, because its vision is extremely poor.These first few minutes of contact with its mother are very critical so that mother and baby can imprint each other's scent. Without this scent-imprinting, they cannot recognize each other, and baby will get lost. No Wildebeest mother will accept a baby that does not have her scent.[Botswana].
