GNU

Common name:
GNU

Nome scientifico:
Connochaetes taurinus

Class:
Mammals

Order:
Certartiodactyla

Family:
Bovidae

Origin:
Southern and Eastern Africa

Diet:
herbs – forages

Habitat:
Great plains

Reproduction:
gestazione of 7-9 months

The Gnu is a large ungulate spread in southern and eastern Africa. It lives in the great plains and feeds on grass. Herds of thousands of specimens can be observed in the Serengeti plain (Tanzania and Kenya) and surrounding areas; smaller groups are found in northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, and in several parks of South Africa. The wildebeest can reach a height at the withers of 1.4 meters and a weight of 270 kg. The skull has large horns with a characteristic shape. The coat is brown in the young ones; the coloring of adults varies from gray-blue to gray-brown, darker in males. The mane is made up of long, stiff black hair. The muzzle and tail are likewise black.