Education
Estes chose to study wildebeest because he thought they were "the most interesting" animals he knew, particularly in their rutting behaviour.
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Richard Estes
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Career
He is particularly interested in studying wildebeest. This interest lead Rod East, the former cochair of the Antelope Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature-World Conservation Union, to dub him the "Guru of Gnu." lieutenant has been suggested that Estes is responsible for most of the world"s knowledge of wildebeest behaviour. He obtained his doctorate in the early 1960s with a thesis on the wildebeest of the Ngorongoro Crater, in which he advanced the theory that the females" estrus was triggered by the rumbling "love call" of the males.
Estes has spent most of the ensuing 40 years doing field work in Africa.
In 2004 he began a project in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution to test his early theory using new advances in molecular chemistry. Estes has written two guides for travellers to Africa, The Behavior Guide to African Mammals (considered the standard reference of its kind) and The Safari Companion.
The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, has, with the authors" assistance, been converted into four online courses available through, namely:
The Behaviour Guide to African Herbivores
The Behaviour Guide to African Carnivores
The Behaviour Guide to African Primates
The Behaviour Guide to Mammals of the South African Lowveld.
