The Gnu's World: Serengeti Wildebeest Ecology and Life History

This is the first scholarly book on the antelope that dominates the savanna ecosystems of eastern and southern Africa. It presents a synthesis of research conducted over a span of fifty years, mainly on the wildebeest in the Ngorongoro and Serengeti ecosystems, where eighty percent of the world s wildebeest population lives. Wildebeest and other grazing mammals drive the ecology and evolution of the savanna ecosystem. Richard D. Estes describes this process and also details the wildebeest s life history, focusing on its social organization and unique reproductive system, which are adapted to the animal s epic annual migrations. He also examines conservation issues that affect wildebeest, including range-wide population declines.