page_title: Hartebeest
section_title: Status and conservation
hierarchical_section_title: Hartebeest / Status and conservation
caption_attribution_description: Alcelaphus buselaphus herd in the Pendjari Nationalpark Benin, West Africa
context_page_description: The hartebeest, also known as kongoni, is an African antelope. Eight subspecies have been described, including two sometimes considered to be independent species. A large antelope, the hartebeest stands just over 1 m at the shoulder, and has a typical head-and-body length of 200 to 250 cm. The weight ranges from 100 to 200 kg. It has a particularly elongated forehead and oddly shaped horns, short neck, and pointed ears. Its legs, which often have black markings, are unusually long. The coat is generally short and shiny. Coat colour varies by the subspecies, from the sandy brown of the western hartebeest to the chocolate brown of the Swayne's hartebeest. Both sexes of all subspecies have horns, with those of females being more slender. Horns can reach lengths of 45–70 cm. Apart from its long face, the large chest and the sharply sloping back differentiate the hartebeest from other antelopes.
  Gregarious animals, hartebeest form herds of 20 to 300 individuals. They are very alert and non-aggressive. They are primarily grazers, with their diets consisting mainly of grasses.
context_section_description: Each hartebeest subspecies is listed under a different conservation status by the IUCN. The species as a whole is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. The hartebeest is extinct in Algeria, Egypt, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, and Tunisia.
  The Bubal hartebeest has been declared extinct since 1994. German explorer Heinrich Barth, in his works of 1857, cites firearms and European intrusion among the reasons for the decrease in its numbers. It was extinct in Tunisia by the late 19th century. The last individual was shot in Missour (Algeria) in 1925.
  Coke's hartebeest is listed as Least Concern. This species has been greatly affected by habitat destruction, and about 42,000 Coke's hartebeest occur today in Mara, Serengeti National Park, and Tarangire National Park in Tanzania and Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. The population is decreasing, and 70% of the population lives in protected areas.
  The Lelwel hartebeest is listed as Endangered, and numbers have declined greatly since the 1980s, when its population was over 285,000. It was formerly distributed mainly in the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, northern and northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan. Fewer than 70,000 individuals are left. Most of the population nowadays is found in Chad in the Salamat region and the Zakouma National Park (Chad), the National Park population benefiting from improved protection and seeing an increase in population since the 1980s; Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park and Bamingui-Bangoran National Park and Biosphere Reserve in the Central African Republic, where the populations have been falling; Rumanyika Orugundu Game Reserve and Ibanda Game Reserve in Tanzania; and Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda.
  Lichtenstein's hartebeest is listed as Least Concern, and occurs in protected areas such as the Selous Game Reserve and in the wild in southern and western Tanzania and Zambia.
  The red hartebeest is listed as Least Concern. It is the most widespread, with increasing numbers after its reintroduction into protected and private areas. However, it has been extinct in Lesotho since the twentieth century. Its population is estimated to be over 130,000 (as of 2008), mostly in southern Africa. In Namibia, the largest population occurs in the Etosha National Park. A reintroduced population is flourishing in the Malolotja Nature Reserve (Swaziland), outside its range. However, numbers have seen a sharp fall in southwestern Botswana.
  The Tora hartebeest is listed as Critically Endangered; the IUCN has ascertained that fewer than 250 mature individuals survive as of 2008. They are possibly extinct in Sudan due to excessive hunting and agricultural expansion, but may still exist in smaller numbers in Eritrea and Ethiopia. There have been unconfirmed reports of sightings by locals of the Tora hartebeest southeast of the Dinder National Park, from where it had disappeared before 1960.
  Swayne's hartebeest is listed as Endangered, and is close to being Critically Endangered. The total population in 2008 was less than 600, of which the mature specimens numbered within 250. It is confined to four major protected areas: the Senkele Wildlife Sanctuary, Nechisar National Park, Awash National Park and Mazie National Park. The hartebeest in Senkele have to compete with the livestock of the Oromo people. A study in the Nechisar National Park during 2009 and 2010 found a considerable increase in the livestock of the Oromos (49.9% and 56.5% increase during 2006 and 2010, respectively), illegal resource exploitation, and habitat loss as major threats to the Swayne's hartebeest populations there.
  The western hartebeest is listed as Near Threatened. It has been eliminated from most of its range, including the southwestern savannas and Boucle du Baoulé National Park in Mali; southwestern Niger; southern Senegal; Gambia; Ivory Coast; Burkina Faso. Small populations survive in Bafing National Park and the area bounded by Bamako, Bougouni and Sikasso in Mali; Tamou Reserve in Niger; Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal; Comoé National
caption: Western hartebeest in Pendjari National Park, Benin
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