Wildebeest The wildebeest ( , , plural wildebeest, wildebai, or wildebeests, wildebeesties (juv)), also called the gnu ( ) is an antelope of the genus "Connochaetes". "Wildebeest" is Dutch for "wild beast" or "wild cattle" in Afrikaans ("bees" "cattle"), while "Connochaetes" derives from the Greek words κόννος, "kónnos", "beard", and χαίτη, "khaítē", "flowing hair", "mane". Some sources claim the name "gnu" originates from the Khoikhoi name for these animals, "t'gnu". Others contend the name and its pronunciation in English go back to the word "!nu:" used for the black wildebeest by the San people. The wildebeest, genus "Connochaetes", is placed under
Black wildebeest also likely to be susceptible to these. Malignant catarrhal fever is a fatal disease of domestic cattle caused by a gammaherpesvirus. Like the blue wildebeest, the black wildebeest seems to act as a reservoir for the virus and all animals are carriers, being persistently infected, but showing no symptoms. The virus is transmitted from mother to calf during the gestation period or soon after birth. Black wildebeest act as hosts to a number of external and internal parasites. A study of the animal in Karroid Mountainveld (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) revealed the presence of all the larval stages of