Today I want to talk about what some consider the 'ugliest' and 'stupidest' of all the animals we saw on the Kenyan savannah. I'm talking about the wildebeest. According to one African legend, God made the wildebeest out of the bits and pieces He had left over after He finished creating all the other animals. He gave the wildebeest a mule's face, a cow's horns, a goat's beard, and a horse's body. Sometimes a wildebeest behaves as if all these bits and pieces want to go in different directions. It will start to gallop around, leap up and down, and kick its heels into the air for no reason anyone can see!
March and April mark the rainy season as well as the mating season. Males fight for dominance among the herd. The gestation period in a female is eight and a half months, producing one offspring. The calf is able to stand within minutes of the birth. In a few days, it is able to keep up with the herd.
During May, more than a million wildebeest migrate more than 800 miles from the Serengeti to open woodlands to feed until November. About 500 wildebeest run at speeds of up to 50mph make a stampede. Stampedes are destructive, but also encourage new plant growth and renewal of soil.
The strong bulls in every wildebeest group defend territories that they have marked with their waste and glandular substances emitted from their face and hooves. Young males and bulls without territories form bachelor herd. Bachelors are forced to live on the fringes of the herd.
Here's a picture Rick took of ALL the different animals we saw at just one spot. If you look closely you can see a giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and gazelle!
