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Black Wildebeest are from the Cape Province and Eastearn Cape and as such prefer Karoo type of veldt as opposed to bushveldt. That is they prefer open plains to graze on. They were almost extinct about 50 years ago, but through the forsight of a couple of people they were succesfully brought back to viable populations.
They are the clowns of the antelope world. They fuss about and tend to run in circles snorting and cavorting like mad things. They are inquisitive too, and will come and inspect what they cannot ID. Usually a flapping of your cap is enough to get them interested. Interestingly, if one of the herd is injured, he will be fought off by the males in the herd. I presume this is a defence stratergy as a wounded weak animal will draw attention to the herd.
Another animal who shares similar habitat with them are the Bontebok and Blesbuck who are also not found in the park.

totally forgot about this until reading this topic

During a nightdrive few weeks back at Orpen, we had some Spanish guests with us on the truck. When stopping at wildebeest they all immediately said gnou...
The guide then said no it is not a gnou
We asked him why that is wrong to say gnu and his response was that the BLACK wildebeest is a gnou (scientific name Connochaetes gnou) while the blue wildebeest is Connochaetes taurinus.

Thought this was very interesting (still have my doubts though )... someone else know about this?

AFAIK Bluewildebeest is referred to as Gnu and it is right. Technically the guide is correct though.

And apparently the word/name "gnu" comes from the sound the wildebeest makes.....

Yep that's what i knew about the gnu part (the sound of the bellowing snort they have), and therefor thought there were no problem calling both of them that.
I know Gnou is a Hottentot name for them but did however never realised it was actually also part of the scientific name of the black wildebeest.

And here as some "Black wildegnu" photos from Mountain Zebra NP

So i would really like to now. Which is the best park to see these guys in.

I would reckon either Mountain Zebra or Golden Gate.

Thanks

I recently saw what I took to be a Black Wildebeest on the Nassob web camera.

I have never visited this park and as a result I am not familiar with the wildlife.

I have also never seen both the Black and Blue wildebeest sharing the same habitat in the past and in the circumstances I was wondering if it was merely a trick of the light.

Can one of our more erudite members please enlighten me.

I will eruditely try my best!

The two species do not occur in the same habitat. Their natural distribution areas are totally different.

Blue Wildebeest is associated with savanna woodland. That simply means that they need areas with shade (trees or bush) but still plenty of grass, and where water is easily available. Typically areas such as Kruger NP, etc.

Black Wildebeest is a plains species. They love areas of open grassland. Typically the high-veld of SA, areas such as the Freestate and even areas in Natal. They are not dependent on shade!

As I said, their distribution areas do not overlap. Where there is contact, caused by human activity, cross-breeding will take place, and this is a threat especially to the Black Wildebeest with the much smaller population. It has now been forbidden to keep the two species together, to prevent this from happening.

Black Wildebeest do not occur in the Kgalagadi. Blue Wildebeest do, and that is what you saw on the webcam.

Excellent feedback Imberbe

Hi Imberbe,

Many thanks for the observation.

Methinks that I have reached the stage were I must ensure that I am wearing my spectacles when viewing the Web-cams.

Don't worry Dave, I also thought they were black wildies Oh well...

I would also like to add, that it's illegal for Blou Wildebeest and Black Wildebeest to be kept together.