Original Range and subspecies ³

The Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), used to occur throughout North Africa and in the southern Levant. The subspecies that occured in our region, Bubal Hartebeest (A. b. buselaphus) is globally extinct. The Hartbeest is extinct in the W Palearctic and occurs in 0% of its original range in our region.

Reintroduction efforts so far ⁴

None. This seems a pretty easy choice to start with if a new megafauna park in North Africa or the Levant was created.

Evolutionary history ⁴

Alcelaphinae: late Miocene
Alcelaphus: 4.4 million years ago, possible origin in eastern Africa
Bubal hartebeest: 0.4 million years ago due to expansion of rainforest and contraction of savannah habitats.

History in the W Palearctic ⁴

Exterminated by the 1920s It was declared extinct in 1994 by the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
large herds were still reported existing in Morocco north of the Atlas Mountains in 1738.
The subspecies declined sharply during the course of the 19th century, especially after the French conquest
of Algeria, when entire herds were massacred at once by the colonial military. By 1867 it could only be found
in the mountain ranges of north-western Africa that are near or within the Saharian desert. It disappeared
from the Tunisian Atlas in 1870, and the last animal in this country was shot in 1902 near Tataouine.
Outside of this instance, the bubal seems to have entered the 20th century restricted to the Western Atlas,
from Boulemane in Morocco to the south of the Wahran department in Algeria. The last known herd, numbering
only 15 animals, was located near Outat El Haj, Morocco in 1917; all but 3 of them were killed by the same
hunter. The last animal in Morocco was shot in Missour in 1925. It probably disappeared around the same
time in Algeria. One last specimen is mentioned as having been 'collected' in the 1920s near Geryville, south
of the Chott Ech Chergui. While Harper, writing in 1945, considered that the subspecies could still possibly
exist at the time in this area, he also mentioned that different campaigns in the 1920s and 1930s failed to
find any animals in Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia, even in regions where it had been reported as numerous
only a few decades before.

Ecology ⁴

Hartebeest are primarily grazers and their main food source is grasses. Hartebeest are uniquely adapted to feeding in the dry season. Hartebeest prefer dry savannahs, open plains and wooded grasslands.
Luis del Mármol Carvajal wrote in 1573 that herds of 100 to 200 animals could be found in northern Morocco. According to 19th century writers, the bubal hartebeest preferred rocky areas with a fair amount of vegetation, in contrast to the sandy, drier habitat of the Addax. Its main predator was the also extinct Barbary lion.

Fontes e Créditos

1. (c) Bernard DUPONT, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_Hartebeest_(Alcelaphus_buselaphus)_(6487125823).jpg
2. (c) Stan van Remmerden, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Stan van Remmerden
3. Adaptado por Stan van Remmerden de uma obra de (c) Wikipedia, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcelaphus_buselaphus
4. (c) Stan van Remmerden, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-SA)

Mais informações

• BioDiversity4All taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• ASM Mammal Diversity Database
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• iNaturalist Mammal Working Group
• VertNet

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