What is a hartebeest?
His elegant portrait was put on certain Roman coins, more than 2,000 years ago. He is an animal of Africa and the Romans put him on a coin to remind the world that they owned African colonies. The Dutch settlers of South Africa rediscovered the handsome animal a few generations ago. They named him the hartebeest, meaning the stag like animal.
You might mistake the hartebeest for his cousin, the graceful deer. The stag sheds his crown of antlers every year. The curved horns of the hartebeest are hollow and he keeps them all his life. Mrs. Hartebeest also wears a crown of elegant horns, just like those of her husband. Though distant cousins of the deer family, the hartebeests are classed as antelopes which are among the fastest of all the four footed beasties.
Except in a zoo, you are not likely to get a close look at the hartebeest, for he is a very shy fellow and takes off in a cloud of dust long before you could get near him. His native home is Africa where he enjoys the warm sunshine in company with perhaps 50 friends and relatives. There are herds of assorted hartebeests throughout most of Africa south of the sandy Sahara desert,
Throughout the sunny African days, the herd grazes peacefully, nibbling the grasses and chewing the cud. A few older, wiser members of the group perch themselves on the high anthills that poke up all over the
African scenery. These trusted ones are the sentinels, standing guard to warn the herd of danger. With proud heads held high, they stare out in all directions, always alert for the lions and natives who enjoy hartebeest meat.
Long before you get near them, the race begins. The graceful animals lift their hooves and start with a slow gallop. Then they speed up until the whole hsrd is racing too fast for the fastest horse to catch them.
The hartebeest is a deer sized animal with a dark, glossy coat. His long slender legs are built for fast running and the front legs are quite a bit longer than the hind legs. This makes his back slope down towards his donkey tail. He has a long, slim head, a long, sad looking face and the large, gentle eyes of a deer. His ears are mulish and his pride and joy is a crown of handsome horns shaped like a lyre. They sprout up from his forehead in a straight line, then curve forward and backward.
In character, the hartebeest is one of the shyest of animals. In fact, he is downright timid, so timid that he refuses to get into a fight for any reason at all. When attacked or wounded, he simply gives up the struggle. He could defend himself with those sturdy horns, but he doesn1t. The hartebeests defense is retreat and Mother Nature has gival him four very, very fast legs which he uses to run away from trouble.