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A postcard picture laeveldleeu, absolutely wonderful

Who has seen Akon the Lone Lichtenstein's Hartebeest:
- Sharifa - H1-1 Near Pretoriuskop
- Laeveldleeu - Near Pretoriuskop

Lichtenstein's Hartebeest:

Ger: Lichtensteins Kuhantilope, Lichtensteins Hatrebeest
Fre: Bubale de Lichtenstein
Afr: Lichtensteinse Hartebees

Status: Not Endangered
Mass: 100-200 kg
Shoulder Height: 1,2-1,4 m
Distinguishing Features: Head long & narrow, shoulders higher than hind quaters. Have distinct habit of rubbing their flanks with their face, particularly after groung horning. This leaves streaks of black preorbital gland secretion mixed with soil & dust on their flanks.
Life-span: +/- 12-15 Years.
Main Predators: Lion, Leopard, Spotted Hyaena & Wild Dog.
Young also fall prey to: Cheetah, Serval, Caracal, Jackals & Pythons.

Description:
Coat is tawny yellow, with darker saddle from shoulders over rump, & ending at base of the tail. Underparts are paler than the upperparts. Rump, upper hindlegs, front of the lower legs, tail base, tail tuft & chin are whitish. Capable of reaching a very fast 60-70 km/h at top speed.
Scent Glands: Preorbital & hoof.
Senses: Very good sight, hearing & sense of smell.
Horns: Both sexes carry horns. They are 60 cm long, are ringed, & have a 'Z'- shaped curvature. They are located in the centre of the head, & are flatened at the partially ridged base.

Distribution:
In 1985, populations were translocated from Malawi & were reintroduced in to KNP. They have bred successfully ever since their reintroduction. These antelope are found in Sourveld & Mopane shrubveld, in the grasslands adjoining savanna woodland in the Pretoriuskop area, and 25 km south of Punda Maria.

Behaviour:
Mostly diurnal. They form herds of 10-20 individuals, comprising a territorial bull, cows & calves. Both sexes defend the territory, ranging in size from 0,3-3 km2. Territories include elevated areas, such as termite mounds, which are used as lookou points. These vantage points are also used by bulls as territorial markers. Territories are marked with preorbital gland secretions, ground pawing, vegetation horning, ground horning & with dung heaps. At 10-12 months of age, young bulls either remain solitary or join bachelor herds of 2-4 individuals that remain on the fringes of the bull territories.

Calls: The alarm call is a sneeze-snort. Bulls often bellow loudly during territorial disputes.

Alarm Signals: Alert posture, foot stamping, style trotting & stotting. Flee in zig-zags with stiff-legged gait, with females taking the lead. Calves that cannot keep up with the herd lie flat & motionless, with ears pinned back.

Aggresion:
Horn threats, horn clashing, head tossing, ground horning, mock or real charges.

Reproduction:
Breed annually, peaking in September-October. A single calf, weighing 13-15 kg, is born after a gestation period of 8 months. It is born in thick cover, & remains hidden for 2 weeks. The calf is weaned at 4 months.

Diet:
Graze on medium to tall grasses, favouring perenial grasses. Also fond of new sprouting grasses after fires. Tend to graze during the cooler hours of the day, when the moisture content of grass is higher. Water dependant, drinking regularly when water is available, but can go without water for several weeks.

Habitat:
Grassland floodplains & open savanna grassland adjacent to open savanna woodland & bushland. In KNP, found in mopane shrubveld habitats, & in the sourveld bordering mixed bush-willow woodland.

Source: Field Guide to the Mammals of the Kruger National Park- Heike Schutze

Have only seen this species once in the Kruger - a lone female was grazing with a herd of impala at Renosterpan (close to Afsaal PS) on the 19th of August 2001.

I've only seen them up north around Babalala

Saw one years ago between Mopani and Letaba.

This one was sitting on the H2-2, about 2 km south east of the Jock memorial, last month.



It was curiously enough in the company of this tsessebe.



Stephen of BnD, tells me that the fence behind is for an enclosure where the LH are, and this one might have escaped and found a cross species friend!

Wow, BB, thats Amazing
Imagine if they interbreeded
Maybe that LH is Akon

Now, just after returning from South Africa I'm currently organizing and searching through photos and am quite surprised by what I found. These were from my very first KNP trip in NOV 2004. It was an enlightening experience seeing how excited I am at now finding these. I had no idea what I was viewing at the time and had since forgotten about this rare spotting from my first trip. As I soon became a HUGE Kruger goer and fan it's quite interesting to see how much I learned and can appreciate now:o) Come to think of it – I’ve been very lucky as I saw Lichtenstein's Hartebeest on my 1st trip (spotted near Pretoriuskop) and Roan on my very last trip in August this year (spotted just down the road from the Babalala turnoff). What a way to bring all the fantastic and wonderful trips and memories together. Thanks South Africa & KNP – I miss you!

Will work on trying to get some of the pictures up – not really sure how to go about that yet.


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A friend of mine saw 4 adults near Pretoriuskop on Saturday.

Seems they are hanging on in that area.

Saw 2 adults and a younger one about 5km down the dirt road from Pretoriaskop towards Afsaal on Tuesday morning.

hi there

Can somebody tell me how many lichtensteinshartebeest are there in the kruger!!???
last time we were there we saw 4 near pretoriuskop on the fayi loop- i have posted a photo to the public sighting gallery- but it is not published yet.

thx very much

My mom swears she saw one of these as we were driving down to Punda from Crook's Corner. We couldn't have a proper look though, the guide was in a hurry.

I was in Kruger for a week in April, and we saw a herd of these animals on Voortrekker in the late morning. There were about 6 heading into the bush, so we didnt see much of their faces. They were almost out of sight when a baby got up and trotted after it's mother. It was adorable! What a special sighting...

This single male at Boyela windmill near Babalala on 27 Sept 2007.





The interesting thing was he was with a herd of tsessebe, and chasing one of the feamales around in a very determined fashion!

Saw a herd of 6 on Voortrekker Road in September. It was close to gate closing time, and nobody else around. Was great to see !!!!