Swayne's Hartebeast

Description:

Sorry for the quality of photos - they are very old, taken by the camera with film (if someone remembers those? ;-) ) and then scanned later on. Articles here were adapted from website promoting Ethiopia, Selamta (http://www.selamta.net/hartebeest.htm). "Swayne's Heartebeast, a subspecies of Heartebeast, is an endangered antelope endemic to Ethiopia. Swayne's Hartebeest have narrow long faces, high withers and sloping hindquarters. They are deep red chocolate brown or chestnut with a fawn or cinnamon colored 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. The horns, carried by both sexes, are doubly curved and mounted on a pedicle. Horns are fully expanded, and curve outwards and slightly downwards from the top of the head and then sweep upwards at the tips - they are described as "shaped like inverted brackets". "

Habitat:

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. .

Notes:

Historical note : this antelope was first described in 1891-2, by General Swayne, who was the first European to visit the area well south of Somaliland and away 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". This rapid decline happened within 15 or so years, and was at first due to the rinderpest, which swept Africa during the last century; and then to several military campaigns, in which the armed forces were permitted to kill as much game as they wanted. Arms flowed in, and in the unsettled conditions prevailing then, hunters very efficiently, and in a very short time, almost succeeded in wiping out the remnants of the Oryx and Hartebeest herds in the area. 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. Swayne's Hartebeest are now confined entirely to four protected areas: Senkele Wildlife Sanctuary, Nechisar N.P., Awash N.P. and the newly designated Mazie N.P.; the survival of Swayne’s in Ethiopia depends on improved protection of these remaining populations. 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 their survival is questioned 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 new national park (Mazie N.P.) and rigorous enforcement of the protection law, this beautifully coloured antelope will start to recover its numbers.