Hartebeest have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but their sense of sight is poor. When alarmed, they tend to mill about in seeming confusion, snorting nervously before running off. Once in its stride, a hartebeest can achieve a speed of 55 km/hr, zigzagging left and right in its characteristic bouncing flight, which make it more difficult for predators to catch them. Like the blue wildebeest, it has an uncanny sense of direction and will find water and fresh grazing after rain has fallen a considerable distance away. Expectant females leave the herd in early summer and give birth to a single calf, usually between September and December, in a sheltered place. The female visits the calf to suckle and clean it. Once it is strong enough, it joins the herd with its mother. Mother hartebeest can recognize their young from a distance of 300 m.
They avoid dense woodland, and are dependent on surface water. They are predominantly grazers.