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Steve -

Sorry I missed you at the Sea Cliff. MS returned from the Selous with his pal who suffered an injured shoulder in a fall. I believe they said they had a beer with you the night we arrived from Amsterdam.

You are correct of coarse that the Wildebeest I took is more properly described as a Nyassaland Wildebeest. I assumed incorrectly that this was color phase of the blue, however it appears to be a subspecies.

Nomenclature and classification

Blue Wildebeest and Black Wildebeest or White-tailed Gnu (C. gnou) are the two species of the genus Connochaetes, within the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, and other even-toed horned ungulates. The Blue Wildebeest is sometimes called Brindled Gnu. The (plural of Wildebeest is denoted either Wildebeest or Wildebeests). Another common term for the Wildebeest is gnu (pronounced /nu/ or /nju/).

C. taurinus is comprised of five distinct subspecies. C. t. taurinus (Blue Wildebeest or Brindled Gnu; central to southern Africa) individuals are silvery slate gray in colour, the origin of the common name "blue" wildebeest. C. t. johnstoni (Nyassaland Wildebeest), occurring in southern Tanzania and Mozambique), is the largest subspecies. The Western white-bearded wildebeest (C. t. mearnsi) is the smallest and is found only in Kenya and western Tanzania. C. t. mearnsi is the darkest hued wildebeest while C. t. albojubatus(Eastern White-bearded Wildebeest) is the palest in colouration and found in Kenya and eastern Tanzania. The last subspecies, Cookson's Wildebeest (C. t. cooksoni), is restricted to the Luangwa Valley.[5]

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