Alcelaphus buselaphus Shoulder height 125cm. Weight 120–150kg.
Hartebeests are ungainly antelopes, readily identified by the combination of large shoulders, a sloping back, a glossy, red-brown coat and smallish horns in both sexes. Numerous subspecies are recognised, all of which are generally seen in small family groups in reasonably open country. Though once hartebeest were found from the Mediterranean to the Cape, only isolated populations still survive.

The only one native to Botswana is the red hartebeest, which is found throughout the arid central, southern and western areas of the country. They can be seen in Nxai and Makgadikgadi, and they're one of the more numerous large mammals in the CKGR. Hartebeest may occur in the drier, southwestern corners of the Delta, or in the drier parts of southern Chobe, but I've no records of them being seen in either location.

Hartebeests are more-or-less exclusively grazers, and although they like access to water they will eat melons, tubers and rhizomes when necessary. In the central Kalahari they'll range widely, often with wildebeest, following thunderstorms in search of fresh, green shoots.