Wildebeest and zebras

Our safari guide, Prosper, was wonderful in many ways: a good driver, a good communicator, funny, kind, and great with the kids. But Prosper was at his best with the animals, both finding them and teaching us about them. Though he could tell you any facts you might want to know, what stuck with me was what he showed us about the animals' personalities and relationships. We saw so much, and without his guidance I would not have understood what I was seeing.

Wildebeest

When I first looked at this scene, I just saw a bunch of wildebeest. The mooing and grunting is very loud.



Prosper showed us that they are arranged in clumps of females guarded by a dominant male. It is rutting season, and the males have a harem to protect. They chase off other males and sometimes clash with them.

But wildebeest have a very short working memory. So once they finish fighting, they stand there looking around blankly, because they've forgotten where their ladies are, or even who they are! Meanwhile some other male has probably taken over, leaving his own harem behind. We had a lot of fun imagining what must go through their heads. "Didn't I see you last night?"

Wildebeest have a great sense of smell, but poor eyesight. If a lion approaches a crowd of migrating wildebeest, they will run away; but the lion knows that if she hides downwind in the tall grass for a couple of minutes, they'll forget she's there, and she can ambush them. 

Zebras

Zebras have a less developed sense of smell than wildebeest but excellent eyesight, and are very intelligent. They know the lion is there in the grass, and their response warns the wildebeest. When they stand around, they stand in pairs facing opposite directions to keep a lookout.

In general they were much quieter than the wildebeests. They make a pleasant whickering-whinnying sound.

Zebra foals are fuzzy and their stripes are brown.

Zebras have round bellies like fat ponies because their stomachs are full of worms that aid digestion. (This is an alternative to the four-stomach system that a cow uses.) They only need to drink water once every three or four months. When they do go to a watering hole, the tension is palpable: There might be crocs in the water or lions in the grass, and the zebras know it.