The Wildebeest question of a few days ago is solved. Our helpful and knowledgeable guide at Umfolozi yesterday informed us that male wildebeests are territorial and have to stay in their allotted areas. They wait for females to cross their path and only then can they mate with them. This means that standing around under trees, doing nothing much but eating, is mandatory until the women come along. They often pick a tree near to a bunch of nyalas, zebra and giraffe so that there’s safety in numbers. As these animals all prefer different lengths of grass, they help each other out in this respect too.
Isn’t nature great? It all has some kind of order…
Indeed the male wildebeest probably act and get into gear when beautiful female wildebeest cross their path. Perhaps men who moan that they haven’t met anyone suitable need to just stand under their trees, eat grass and keep their eyes open too!
