Black wildebeest
The black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu ("Connochaetes gnou") is one of the two closely related wildebeest species. It is a member of the genus "Connochaetes" and family Bovidae. It was first described in 1780 by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann. The black wildebeest is typically in head-and-body length, and the typical weight is . Males stand about at the shoulder, while the height of the females is . The black wildebeest is characterised by its white, long, horse-like tail. It also has a dark brown to black coat and long, dark-coloured hair between its forelegs and under its belly.
Verreaux's eagle
Of the two species regularly taken, the yellow-spotted rock hyrax can weigh from with an average of , although specimens from Zimbabwe are noticeably heavier and larger than specimens from Serengeti National Park. Cape hyrax, weighing from with average of around , can be even larger than the Verreaux's eagles themselves, so can be more difficult to kill. Yellow-spotted rock hyraxes are more often taken in the Matobo Hills, perhaps because of their smaller size or its more diurnal habits. Adult rock hyraxes were disproportionately selected, perhaps due to being out in the open more regularly. In Cape hyraxes, 1 to 2 year old males are particularly vulnerable, since they are forced to disperse at sexual maturity. Juvenile hyraxes constituted from 11-33% of prey remains in the Western Cape while 18% of hyraxes killed were juveniles in Matobo Hills. Because of their greater weight, Cape hyraxes are frequently either consumed at the kill site (putting the eagle at risk of losing prey to competing predators or to attack by large mammalian carnivores) or are decapitated and brought to the nest or perch. Fewer skulls or jaws of Cape hyraxes have been found at nest sites than yellow-spotted rock hyrax skulls. However, the Cape hyrax has a wider distribution than the yellow-spotted and the Verreaux's eagle may hunt the Cape hyrax almost exclusively outside of the long band of eastern Africa where the smaller species is distributed. In comparison to the golden eagle, Verreaux's eagle has a foot pad that's about 20% wider, which is possibly an adaptation to taking the bulky and broad-backed rock hyrax. The foot of the Verreaux's eagle is reportedly even larger than a human hand. In South Africa, where the Cape hyrax is the main prey species, the estimated mean size of prey taken to the nest is around , perhaps twice as heavy as prey taken by some nesting golden eagles. However, the mean size of prey taken by Verreaux's eagle in the Matobo Hills, with more yellow-spotted rock hyrax, was around , around the same estimated weight as prey taken by golden eagles in Europe and smaller than the average estimated mass of prey taken to golden eagle nests in some regions, like Scotland or Mongolia.