Hirola: Difference between revisions

| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group |yeardate=2008|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6234/02017 |title=''Beatragus hunteri'' |access-datevolume=52017 April|page=e.T6234A50185297 2009|refdoi=harv}}10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T6234A50185297.en Database entry includes a brief|access-date=11 justificationNovember of why this species is of critically endangered.2021}}</ref>

| parent_authority = Heller, 1912

The '''hirola''' ('''''Beatragus hunteri'''''), also called the '''Hunter's hartebeest''' or '''Hunter's antelope''', is a [[critically endangered]] [[antelope]] species found onas theof bordernow, betweenonly in [[Kenya]] andalong the border of [[Somalia]].<ref>{{Cite Theyweb were|title=Animals and Plants Unique to Kenya |url=https://lntreasures.com/kenya.html |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=lntreasures.com}}</ref> It was first discovereddescribed by the big game hunter and [[zoologist]] H.C.V. Hunter in 1888.<ref>Description of Hunter's antelope. ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society'' 1889, 372–377.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arkive.org/hirola/beatragus-hunteri/ |title=ARKive |access-date=2013-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193210/http://www.arkive.org/hirola/beatragus-hunteri/ |archive-date=2013-10-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is the [[monotypic|only living member]] of the genus ''Beatragus'', though other species are known from the fossil record.<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Artiodactyla | id = 14200507 | page = 675}}</ref> The global hirola population is estimated at 300–500 animals and there are none in captivity.<ref name="PROBERT, J. 2011">PROBERTProbert, J. (2011) [http://www.iccs.org.uk/wp-content/thesis/consci/2011/Probert.pdf The Tsavo hirola: current status and future management]. MSc thesis. Imperial College London, UK</ref><ref name="King, J. 2011">King, J., Craig, I., Andanje, S. and Musyoki, C. (2011) They Came, They Saw, They Counted, SWARA, 34: (2).</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">James Probert, Ben Evans, Sam Andanje, Richard Kock and Rajan Amin. Population and habitat assessment of the Critically Endangered hirola ''Beatragus hunteri'' in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. ''Oryx'', available on CJO2014. doi:10.1017/S0030605313000902.</ref> According to a document produced by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] "the loss of the hirola would be the first extinction of a mammalian genus on mainland Africa in modern human history".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/?11534/A-sanctuary-for-Hirola |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190520/http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/?11534/A-sanctuary-for-Hirola |archive-date=2013-10-29 |title=IUCN - A sanctuary for Hirola}}</ref>

The hirola is a medium-sized antelope, thattantan to rufous-tawny in colour with slightly lighter under parts, predominantly white inner ears and a white tail which extends down to the hocks. It has very sharp, lyrate horns which lack a basal pedicle and are ridged along three quarters of their length. As hirola age their coat darkens towards a slate grey and the number of ridges along their horns increases. Hirola have large, dark sub-orbital glands used for marking their territories and give them the name "four-eyed antelope". They have white spectacles around their eyes and an inverted white chevron running between the eyes. The horns, hooves, udders, nostrils, lips and ear tips are black. Males and females look similar although males are slightly larger with thicker horns and darker coats.<ref name="Sclater, P. L. 1889">Sclater, P. L. (1889) Description of Hunter's antelope. ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society'' 1889, 372–377.</ref><ref>[[I. N. Dracopoli|Dracopoli, I. N.]] (1914) Some notes on the game animals of Jubaland. Uganda Natural History Society 4: 117–121.</ref><ref name="Dorst, J 1970">Dorst, J. and P. Dandelot. (1970) ''A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa''. Collins: London. 287.</ref><ref name="Kingdon, J. 1982">Kingdon, J. (1982) East African Mammals. ''An Atlas of Evolution in Africa''. Vol. IIID. Bovids. Academic Press: New York. 395- 746.</ref><ref>Kingdon, J. (1997) ''The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals''. Academic Press: London. 465.</ref><ref name="Butynski, T. M. 2000">Butynski, T. M. (2000) Independent Evaluation of Hirola antelope (Beatrugus hunteri) conservation status and conservation action in Kenya. Kenya Wildlife Service and Hirola Management Committee: Nairobi, Kenya.</ref>

Several sources have recorded precise measurements from both captive and wild hirola. The following are maximum and minimum values taken from all sources: height at the shoulder: 99–125&nbsp;cm, body weight: 73–118&nbsp;kg, head and body length: 120–200&nbsp;cm, horn length: 44–72&nbsp;cm, horn spread (greatest outside width): 15–32&nbsp;cm, tail length: 30–45&nbsp;cm, ear length: 19&nbsp;cm. It is not stated whether horn length was measured direct from base to tip or along the curve of the horn.<ref name="Dorst, J 1970"/><ref name="Kingdon, J. 1982"/><ref name="Butynski, T. M. 2000"/><ref>Best, G. A. F., Edmond-Blanc, F. and Courtenay Witting, R. (eds.) (1962) ''Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game''. 11th edition. Africa. Rowland Ward: London.</ref> There is no data on how long hirola live in the wild but in captivity they have been known to live for big butt coffee 15 years.<ref name="PROBERT, J. 2011"/>

When it was first described the hirola was given the common name Hunter's hartebeest. Despite this it was placed in the genus ''[[Damaliscus]]'' with the topi and given the scientific name ''Damaliscus hunteri''.<ref name="Sclater, P. L. 1889"/> Newer theories have classified it as a [[subspecies]] of the topi (''Damaliscus lunatus hunteri'')<ref>Haltenorth, T. and Diller, H. (1977) A Field Guide to the Mammals of Africa Including Madagascar. Collins: Cambridge, UK. 400.</ref><ref>Walther, F. R. (1990) Hartebeests, ''Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals''. New York: McGraw-Hill. 418–436.</ref> or placed it within its own genus as ''Beatragus hunteri''.<ref>Simpson, G. G. (1945) The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' 85: 1–350.</ref><ref name="Gentry, A. W. 1990">Gentry, A. W. (1990) Evolution and dispersal of African Bovidae. In: Bubenik, G. A. and Bubenik, A. B. (eds.). ''Horns, Pronghorns and Antlers''. Springer-Verlag: New York. 195–227.</ref><ref name="Pitra, C. 1998">Pitra, C., Kock, R., Hofmann, R. and Lieckfeldt, D. (1998) Molecular phylogeny of the critically endangered Hunter’s antelope (Beatragus hunteri, Sclater 1889). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 36: 179–184.</ref><ref>Estes, R. D. (1999) Hirola: Generic status supported by behavioral and physiological evidence. ''Gnusletter'' 18: 10–11.</ref>

Recent genetic analyses on karyotypic and mitochondrial DNA support the theory that the hirola is distinct from the topi and should be placed in its own genus.<ref name="Pitra, C. 1998"/><ref>Kumamoto, A. T., Charter, S. J., Houk, M. L. and Frahm, M. (1996) Chromosomes of the Damaliscus (Artiodactyla, Bovidae): Simple and complex centric fusion rearrangements. ''Chromosome Research'' 4: 614–622.</ref> They also indicate that the hirola is in fact more closely related to ''[[Alcelaphus]]'' than to ''Damaliscus''. Placing the hirola in its own genus is further supported by behavioural observations. Neither ''Alcelaphus'' nor ''Damaliscus'' engage in flehmen, where the male tastes the urine of the female to determine oestrus. They are the only genera of bovids to have lost this behaviour. Hirola still engage in flehmen although it is less obvious than in other species.<ref>Estes, R. D. (1991) The Behaviour Guide to African Mammals. The University of California Press: California. 611.</ref><ref name="Andanje, S. A 1995">Andanje, S. A. and Goeltenboth, P. (1995) Aspects of the Ecology of the Hunter's Antelope or Hirola (''Beatrugus hunteri'', Sclater, 1889) in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. Kenya Wildlife Service, Research and Planning Unit: Nairobi, Kenya.</ref>

The genus ''Beatragus'' originated around 3.1 million years ago and was once widespread with fossils found in [[Ethiopia]], [[Djibouti]], [[Tanzania]] and [[South Africa]].<ref name="Kingdon, J. 1982"/><ref name="Gentry, A. W. 1990"/><ref name="Gentry, A. W 1978">Gentry, A. W. and Gentry, A. (1978) Fossil Bovidae (Mammalia) of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: Part 1. Bulletin British Museum Natural History (Geology) 29: 289–446.</ref><ref>Thomas, H., Coppens, Y., Thibault. C. and Weidmann, M. (1984) Decouverte de vertebres fossiles dans le Pleistocene inferieur de la Republique de Djibouti. C. R. Académie des Sciences Paris 299: 43–48</ref>

The hirola is adapted to arid environments with annual rainfall averaging {{convert|300|to|600|mm|in}}. Their habitats range from open grassland with light bush to wooded savannahs with low shrubs and scattered trees, most often on sandy soils.<ref name="Bunderson, W. T. 1981">Bunderson, W. T. (1981) Ecological separation of wild and domestic mammals in an East African Ecosystem. Logan, USA: Utah State University. 220–222.</ref> Despite the arid environments they inhabit, hirola appear to be able to survive independently of surface water.<ref name="Bunderson, W. T. 1981"/><ref>Dahiye, Y. M. (1999) Population Size and Seasonal Distribution of the Hunter’s Antelope or Hirola (''Beatragus hunteri'', Sclater, 1889) in Southern Garissa, Kenya. MSc thesis: Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.</ref> Andanje observed hirola drinking on only 10 occasions in 674 observations (1.5%) and all 10 observations of drinking occurred at the height of the dry season. Hirola do however favour short green grass and in 392 of 674 observations (58%) hirola were grazing on growths of short green grass around waterholes.<ref name="Andanje, S. A. 2002">Andanje, S. A. (2002) [https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/1048/1/Andanje%2002.pdf Factors limiting the abundance and distribution of hirola (''Beatragus hunteri'') in Kenya]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. PhD thesis: University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK</ref> This association with waterholes may have led to reports that hirola are dependent on surface water.<ref name="Butynski, T. M. 2000"/>

Hirola are primarily grazers but browse may be important in the dry season.<ref name="Bunderson, W. T. 1985">Bunderson, W. T. (1985) The Population, Distribution and Habitat Preferences of the Hunter's Antelope ''Damaliscus hunteri'' in north-east Kenya. In litt. to J. Williamson, WCMC: Cambridge, UK. 13.</ref> They favour grasses with a high leaf to stem ratio and [[Chloris (plant)|''Chloris'']] and ''[[Digitaria]]'' species are believed to be important in their diet.<ref name="Kingdon, J. 1982"/><ref name="Andanje, S. A 1995"/> Kingdon does not consider the ecological requirements of the hirola unusual and in fact considers them to be more generalist than either ''[[Connochaetes]]'' spp. or ''Damaliscus''.<ref name="Kingdon, J. 1982"/> A vet who examined the digestive tract of several hirola concluded that they were well adapted to eating dry region grasses and roughage.<ref>Hofmann, R. R. (1996) Hirola: Translocation to Tsavo NP and new scientific information. ''Gnusletter'' 15: 2–5.</ref> They feed on the dominant grasses of the region and Kingdon (1982) believes that quantity is more important than quality in the hirola's diet.<ref name="Andanje, S. A 1995"/>

Hirola are often found in association with other species, particularly [[oryx]], [[Grant's gazellesgazelle]], [[Burchell's zebra]] and [[topi]]. They avoid [[Coke's hartebeest]], buffalo and elephant.<ref name="Andanje, S. A. 1997">Andanje, S. A. (1997) Hirola monitoring progress report: update analysis of animal movement, location and herding. Biodiversity Conservation Unit, Kenya Wildlife Service: Nairobi, Kenya.</ref> Whilst hirola avoid direct association with livestock, they reportedly prefer the short grass in areas where livestock have been grazed.<ref name="Bunderson, W. T. 1985"/>

Female hirola give birth alone and may remain separate from the herd for up to two months, making them vulnerable to predation. Eventually the female will rejoin a nursery herd consisting of females and their young. Nursery herds number from 5 to 40 although the mean herd size is 7-9. They are usually accompanied by an adult male.<ref name="Kingdon, J. 1982"/><ref name="Andanje, S. A 1995"/><ref name="Bunderson, W. T. 1985"/><ref>Andanje, S. A. and Ottichilo, W. K. (1999) Population status and feeding habits of the translocated sub-population of Hunter's antelope or hirola (''Beatragus hunteri'', Sclater, 1889) in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. ''African Journal of Ecology'', 37: (1) 38–48.</ref>

Adult males attempt to secure a territory on good pasture. These territories are up to {{convert|7|sqkm|sqmi|1}} and are marked with dung, secretions from the sub-orbital glands and by stamping grounds where males scrape the soil with their hooves and slash the vegetation with their horns.<ref name="Bunderson, W. T. 1985"/> It has been suggested that at low population densities adult males abandon territory defence and will instead follow a nursery herd.<ref>Gosling, L. M. (1986) The evolution of mating strategies in male antelopes. ''Ecological Aspects of Social Evolution''. Princeton University Press: Princeton. 244–281.</ref> Nursery herds do not defend a territory but do have home ranges which overlap the territories of several adult males.<ref name="Andanje, S. A. 1997"/> The size of a nursery herd's home range varies from {{convert|26|to|164.7|sqkm|sqmi|1}} with a mean size of {{convert|81.5|sqkm|sqmi|1}}.<ref name="Andanje, S. A. 2002"/>

Hirola are seasonal breeders with young being born from September to November.<ref name="Kingdon, J. 1982"/> Data on age of sexual maturity and gestation period are not available for wild hirola however in captivity gestation was around 7.5 months (227–242 days) with one female mating at 1.4 years old and giving birth at 1.9 years. Another pair of hirola mated when they were 1.7 years of age.<ref>Smielowski, J. (1987) A note on the reproductive biology of the Hunter's antelope or hirola (''Damaliscus hunteri'' – Sclater, 1889) in the zoo environment. ''Zoologische Garten'' 57: 234–240.</ref> In captivity one of the main causes of mortality is wounds caused by intra-hirola aggression, including aggression between females.<ref name="PROBERT, J. 2011"/>

The reasons for the historic decline of the hirola are not known but is likely a combination of factors including disease (particularly [[rinderpest]]), hunting, severe drought, predation, competition for food and water from domestic livestock and habitat loss caused by [[bushwoody plant encroachment]] as a result of the extirpation of elephants within its range.<ref name="Butynski, T. M. 2000"/><ref>Magin, C. (l996a1996) Hirola Recovery Plan. IUCN Antelope Specialist Group in collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service and Hirola Task Force. IUCN: Nairobi.</ref>

This hartebeest prefers areas that are used by livestock which puts them at increased risk from diseases like [[tuberculosis]].<ref>Macdonald, D.W. (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Mammals''. Oxford University Press, Oxford.</ref> It might be vulnerable to poaching, and is also subject to the natural phenomena of [[predation]] and [[interspecific competition|competition]] with other wild herbivores, particularly [[topi]] and [[Coke's hartebeest]], which the IUCN also calls 'threats'.<ref>{{cite journaliucn |author=IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/6234/12588805 |date=30 June 2008 |volume=2008 |title=''Beatragus hunteri'' (Hirola) |journal=[[The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] |page=e.T6234A12588805 |publisher=[[IUCN]] |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T6234A12588805.en |access-date=2018-10-28}}</ref>

Despite being one of the rarest antelopes, conservation measures for the antelope have so far been marginal. The [[Arawale National Reserve]] was created in 1973 as a small sanctuary for them, but has been left unmaintained since the 1980s. In 2005, four local communities in the [[Ijara District]], in collaboration with [[Terra Nuova]], established the [[Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy]].<ref>Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy [https://web.archive.org/web/20140907020314/http://www.ishaqbinihirola.co.ke/ Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy]</ref><ref>Northern Rangelands Trust [https://web.archive.org/web/20151116035928/http://www.nrt-kenya.org/ishaqbini/ Northern Rangelands Trust]</ref> As of 2014, a 23&nbsp;km² predator-proof fenced sanctuary has been constructed at Ishaqbini and a founding population of 48 hirola is breeding well within the sanctuary.<ref>King, J., Craig, I., Golicha, M., Sheikh, M., Lesowapir, S., Letoiye, D., Lesimirdana, D., and Worden, J. (2014) Status of hirola in Ishaqbini community conservancy. Northern Rangelands Trust and Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy, Kenya.</ref>