(Alceluphus buselaphus swaynei)
Amharic:
Korkay
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 permitted 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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