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Swayne's Hartebeest
The common African hartebeest has
fifteen races of which two are already extinct and Swayne's is
seriously endangered.
In 1891-2, Brigadier-General Swayne,
who discovered the animals, was the first European to visit the area
well south of the Golis range of Somaliland and about 200 kms. (125
miles) from the coast. The plains were described as "covered with
hartebeest, 300-400 to a herd and a dozen or so herds in sight at
any time"- Herds of a thousand individuals were observed. Within
fifteen years the tens of thousands in Haud and Ogo that Swayne had
seen had dwindled to such an extent that he estimated only about 880
remained. This rapid decline was due to the rinderpest, which swept
Africa during the last century. The Somalis "went out daily and
pulled down the sick animals with their bare hands in order to take
the hides". Military campaigns followed in which the armed forces
were p ermitted
to kill as much game as they wanted. Arms flowed in and in the
unsettled conditions which prevailed hunters very efficiently, and
in a very short time, had almost succeeded in wiping out the
remnants of the Oryx and Hartebeest herds in the area.
Hartebeest are almost grotesquely
long-faced and have high withers and sloping hindquarters. The
horns, carried by both sexes, are doubly curved and mounted on a
pedicle. Some authors still consider that according to the shape of
the horns, which is supposed to be the most important diagnostic
character, each race of hartebeest should enjoy full specific rank.
However, the presence of hybrid forms has led zoologists to regard
them as a sub-species, and it is now generally accepted to classify
them as geographic representatives of the same species.
Three types of horns can be
distinguished in the buselaphus group:
U-shaped as in the now-extinct North
African buba hartebeest, and in the western hartebeest from Gambela,
Nigeria and Cameroon; V-shaped as in the Lelwel Hartebeest (A.
buselaphus lelwel), Jackson's Hartebeest (A.b. jacksoni),
and the South African cape hartebeest (A.b. caama), (all of
which have very long heads and a uniform red-brown colour). The
third type of horn is shaped like inverted brackets as in Coke's
Hartebeest (A.b. cokii), in the pale tawny A.b. tora
from Sudan and Ethiopia, and Swayne's Hartebeest, previous]y found
in both Somalia and Ethiopia, but now restricted only to Ethiopia.
Swayne's is the eastern race of tora
to whom it is closely related, both species being smaller than the
uthers, but is distinguished from it by its considerably darker body
colour. It is a deep red chocolate brown or chestnut with a fawn or
cinnamon coloured rump, tail and lower half of legs. The tail tuft
is black. Its face and upper parts of its body have dark blackish
markings: a black stripe from the shoulder to the knee, a black
smudge on the flanks, and black markings on the outside of the hind
limbs are typical, but on the darkest individuals these black
markings do not show clearly in the field. Adult specimens sometimes
have a silvery appearance as the hairs are tipped with white. The
horns are fully expanded and shaped like those of the tora; and
curve out- wards and slightly downwards from the top of the head and
then sweep upwards at the tips, and are usually, but not always,
hooked backwards and they may or may not turn inwards.
Swayne's Hartebeest lives in open
country, light bush, sometimes in tall savanna woodland. These are
social animals and are normally seen in herds of 4-15, up to thirty.
Each herd is under the leader- ship of the master bull which leads
the females with their young. The territory is defended by the male.
You may often see them grazing peacefully, with the bull on slightly
higher ground acting as sentinel for his herd.
The small surviving population is now
restricted to the grass and thorn scrub plains of southern Danakil
and the Rift Valley lakes region, on the Alledeghi plains east of
Awash and from Awash valley to the southern lakes. The Nechisar
National Park has been established for their protection. Located on
the shores of lakes Abaya and Chamo, the park is accessible from
Arba Minch. The best known herd is about 100 head which inhabits an
area of 400 sq. kms. near the shore of lake Chamo. However, the
largest known population is on the heavily settled plain of Senkela
in the Shashemane area. Here there are probably about 500 now in
excellent condition but less likely to survive because of pressure
on habitat. This hartebeest is listed by the IUCN among the species
in the world in "imminent danger of extinction" and is completely
protected by law in Ethiopia (1972 Wildlife Conservation). Pressure
on its habitat by human beings was the main cause of its decline,
and it is to hoped that with the creation of the national park and
rigorous enforcement of the protection law, this beautifully
coloured antelope will start to recover its numbers.
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