Alcelaphus lelwel (Heuglin, 1877)

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Bovidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 444-779 : 651

145.

Lelwel Hartebeest

Alcelaphus lelwel

French: Bubale lelwel / German: Lelwel-Kuhantilope / Spanish: Alcelafo de Lelwel

Taxonomy. Acronotus lelwel Heuglin, 1877 ,

Jur River; type locality fixed by Schwarz in 1920.

Formerly considered a subspecies of A. buselaphus , which is now extinct. In the late 20" century, it was customary for all or most hartebeest to be included as subspecies of A. buselaphus . There seems no particular reason for them to have been placed in a single species, and the more we learn about them the more distinct they are found to be. A phylogeny of hartebeest based on the control region of mtDNA found that this species belongs in an East African group with the Kongoni ( A. cokii ), Swayne’s Hartebeest ( A. swaynei ), and the Tora Hartebeest ( A. tora ), and that three individuals of the Kongoni were actually nested within the Lelwel Hartebeest. The authors of the study favored an East African origin for the genus and proposed that the modern eastern species derived from a refugium within the range of present-day Lelwel Hartebeest. Monotypic.

Distribution. From Lake Chad to E Sudan and possibly just into Ethiopia, SE to the borders of the East African Rift Valley, S to the Uasin Gishu Plateau in Kenya and to Ankole in Uganda.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 182-200 cm, tail 46-57 cm, shoulder height 108-150 cm, ear 18-20 cm (males), hindfoot 54-60 cm; weight 175-218 kg (males) and 150-185 kg (females). The horns form a narrow upright V when seen from in front. Greatest skull length is 45-5-56-2 cm in males; horn span is 52-76% of basal length in males; and least frontal width is 68-86% of biorbital width. This species can be regarded as belonging to the “heavily armed” group. The male has relatively longer pedicles than in any other species, and a heavy skull relative to its length; the frontal sinuses in males are very large, and penetrate the horns to some degree. This species is equal to the Red Hartebeest (A. caama ) in the degree of sexual dimorphism in horn circumference, more dimorphic in horn length, and slightly more so in skull weight. The pelage color is more reddish than neighboring species, with the dark markings on the face, in the mid-dorsal region, and on the front of the forelegs poorly expressed; the rump is noticeably pale to whitish. The preorbital secretion is colorless.

Habitat. Combretum and Acacia savannas interspersed among Isoberlinia woodlands.

Food and Feeding. Diet consists only of grass, the abundance of which is relatively seasonal.

Breeding. The duration of the mating season is very short, somewhat over a month, so that competition between males is unusually intense. This,it has been suggested,is why this speciesis so “heavily armed” and so strongly sexually dimorphic. Like all hartebeest, they fight by dropping to their front knees and pushing with their foreheads and horn pedicles, their horns interlocking to some extent, and the long pedicles in this species give extensive leverage. The thick horns, with just a narrow V between them, and the large frontal sinuses, are well designed to absorb the heavy pressuresset up by this method of fighting. A female indicates mating readiness by stretching her rump, with hindlegs flexed, emphasising the pale tone of the rump (this is similar to the appeasement behavior used by calves); mating then proceedsin the usual fashion. Females produce their first young at about two years; males are sexually mature by one year.

Activity patterns. The main feeding peaks for Lelwel Hartebeest are late in the day. Members of a herd rest intermittently; when an animal sleeps, it does so for only a few minutes at a time, curled up or resting its chin on the ground. Territorial males, much more active and alert than herds, spend long periods standing conspicuously on termite mounds.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. In Uganda, Lelwel Hartebeest are normally found in large groups in wide grassy valleys. They move to higher ground and split up into small herds consisting of females and young in the later part of the rainy season, from late April to June, and at this time the males set up territories and compete strenuously for the female herds. Each herd tends to remain within one territory, restricting its movements to some 2-3 km, and so functions essentially as a particular male’s harem.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List (as A. buselaphus lelwel). In the 1980s, there were thought to be more than 285,000, so that until recently this species was assessed as Lowerrisk/Conservation dependent, but the situation has deteriorated, and in 2008, it was thought that only 70,000 remained. On this basis it was reassessed as Endangered. As with other hartebeest species, habitat loss, overhunting, and competition with livestock are thought to be the important causes of population decline.

Bibliography Capellini & Gosling (2006), Estes (1991a, 1991b), Farke (2007), Kingdon (1982), Roosevelt & Heller (1914).

Figures

On following pages: 147. Swayne's Hartebeest (Alcelaphus swaynel); 148. Kongoni (Alcelaphus coki); 149. Lichtenstein's Hartebeest (Alcelaphus lichtensteinii); 150. Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus caama); 151. Herola (Beatragus hunter).

Distribution. From Lake Chad to E Sudan and possibly just into Ethiopia , SE to the borders of the East African Rift Valley, S to the Uasin Gishu Plateau in Kenya and to Ankole in Uganda .