Editing Wildebeest (section)

===Predators===
[[File:Taxidermied Lion and Blue Wildebeest, Namibia.jpg|thumb|Taxidermied [[Lion]] and [[Blue Wildebeest]], [[Namibia]]]]

Major predators that feed on wildebeest include the [[lion]], [[Spotted hyena|hyena]], [[African wild dog]], [[cheetah]], [[leopard]], and [[Nile crocodile]], which seem to favour the wildebeest over other prey.<ref name="National geographic"/> Wildebeest, however, are very strong, and can inflict considerable injury even to a lion. Wildebeest have a maximum running speed of around {{convert|80|km/h|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web| last = PBS| title = Animal Guide: Blue Wildebeest| work = Nature| access-date = 8 January 2013| url = https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/animal-guides/animal-guide-blue-wildebeest/3255/| archive-date = 15 June 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130615011916/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/animal-guides/animal-guide-blue-wildebeest/3255/| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 9780521576734| last = McGowan| first = Christopher| title = A Practical Guide to Vertebrate Mechanics| date = 28 February 1999|page=162}}</ref> The primary defensive tactic is herding, where the young animals are protected by the older, larger ones, while the herd runs as a group. Typically, the predators attempt to isolate a young or ill animal and attack without having to worry about the herd. Wildebeest have developed additional sophisticated cooperative behaviours, such as animals taking turns sleeping while others stand guard against a night attack by invading predators. Wildebeest migrations are closely followed by [[vulture]]s, as wildebeest carcasses are an important source of food for these scavengers. The vultures consume about 70% of the wildebeest carcasses available. Decreases in the number of migrating wildebeest have also had a negative effect on the vultures.<ref name=Virani>{{cite journal|last=Virani|first=Munir Z.|author2=Kendall, Corinne |author3=Njoroge, Peter |author4=Thomsett, Simon |title=Major declines in the abundance of vultures and other scavenging raptors in and around the Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya|journal=Biological Conservation |year=2011 |volume=144 |pages=746–752 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2010.10.024 |issue=2}}</ref> In the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania, wildebeest may help facilitate the migration of other, smaller-bodied grazers, such as [[Thomson's gazelle]]s (''Eudorcas thomsonii''), which eat the new-growth grasses stimulated by wildebeest foraging.<ref>{{cite journal |author=McNaughton, S. J. |year=1979 |title=Grazing as an optimization process: grass-ungulate relationships in the Serengeti |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=113 |issue=5 |pages=691–703 |jstor=2459961 |doi=10.1086/283426|s2cid=85338998}}</ref>