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Just returned from KNP.

Saw tsessebe on the Capricorn Loop - S143 - near Mopani. Several groups, but mostly near water.

Thanks for that Bishop. What confused me was the fact that the last 2 pictures were taken of animals in the same herd. Is it not unusual for Hartebeest and Tsessebe to go round together. Is there any interbreeding?

Here is another picture of 2 from the large group on the Capricorn loop.
They look like Tsessebe except for the light patches on the rear. Are they young Tsessebe who haven't quite reached maturity yet?
Bondm UK

Hey, bondm!

Good question!

Those are normal tsessebe, I think!

If you look earlier on the thread, or the Liechtenstein's thread, there is a pic I took of a Liechtenstein's chasing a tsessebe for obvious reasons.

It is a very rare occurence for such seperate species to manage to breed, despite a lot of trying!

Should it happen, I think most calves would be stillborn and deformed.

However, there is the famous example of a roan bull successfully impregnating a sable in the Satara area about 20 years ago. The calf managed fine, and showed aspects of both parents...and was certainly thought to be infertile!

Bondm, as RP says, those are tsesseb as well.

The easiest, apart from the colours, is to look at the horns. Look at your original photos 1 and 2, where you have the horns from the side. The tsesseb has "straight" horns, while those of the hartebeest is L-shaped.

Interbreeding? May occur, but typically highly unlikely.

I have seen a lone Tssessebe on the S21 near siyalu!To far for my camera!

Seen yesterday on the S144..about 5 standing in the shade...



For more on this and other special sightings, Read My Blog!

Thanks for the info about the horns, Bishop. All I need to remember is which is which - tsessebe has the straight horns or is it hartebeest....mmmm.
S for straight and there are a lot of s's's in tsessebe.Got it. thanks again. Bond UK

This one of 3 close to Klopperfontein Dam this July.

Seems they are becoming a fixture there:

For me the best place to see Tsessebe was the Boyela Waterhole. Saw them there on 4 or 5 days.

Hope you can see the photo.

And here more photos:



I made these photos at Boyela Waterhole in Dec. 08.

Seen crossing the road just south of the Giriyondo road (about 20km north of Letaba) on 31st August. There were 3 of them

You can distinguish tsessebe from hartebeest by looking at they horns. Those of the tsessebe point inwards, those of the hartebeest point outwards.

Saw these blokes at Klopperfontein Dam en route from Punda Maria to Pafuri over the weekend.

From my recent KNP-trip - saw these near Mopani:

These near Mandadzidzi in Northern Kruger end Sept.!