Wildebeest Wildebeest Wildebeests, also called gnus, are antelopes in the genus Connochaetes. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed horned ungulates. "Connochaetes" includes two species, both native to Africa: the black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu ("C. gnou"), and the blue wildebeest or brindled gnu ("C. taurinus"). Fossil records suggest these two species diverged about one million years ago, resulting in a northern and a southern species. The blue wildebeest remained in its original range and changed very little from the ancestral species, while the black wildebeest changed more in order to adapt to
Blue wildebeest limit of the blue wildebeest stops at the Orange River, while the western limit is bounded by Lake Victoria and Mount Kenya. The range does not include montane or temperate grasslands. These wildebeest are rarely found at altitudes over . With the exception of a small population of Cookson's wildebeest that occurs in the Luangwa Valley (Zambia), the wildebeest is absent in the wetter parts of the southern savanna country, and particularly is not present in miombo woodlands. Three African populations of blue wildebeest take part in a long-distance migration, timed to coincide with the annual pattern of rainfall and