τ η , ▁k ha ít ē , ▁" flow ing ▁hair ", ▁" man e ". ▁Some ▁sources ▁claim ▁the ▁name ▁" gnu " ▁origin ates ▁from ▁the ▁K ho ik ho i ▁name ▁for ▁these ▁animals , ▁t ' gnu . ▁O thers ▁cont end ▁the ▁name ▁and ▁its ▁pron unci ation ▁in ▁English ▁go ▁back ▁to ▁the ▁word ▁! nu : ▁used ▁for ▁the ▁black ▁w ilde be est ▁by ▁the ▁San ▁people . ▁ ▁Classification ▁ ▁Tax onomy ▁and ▁evolution ▁The ▁w ilde be est , ▁genus ▁Con no cha etes , ▁is ▁placed ▁under ▁the ▁family ▁B ov idae ▁and ▁sub family ▁Al cel aph inae , ▁where ▁its ▁closest ▁relatives ▁are ▁the ▁har te be est ▁( Al cel aph us ▁s pp .), ▁the ▁h iro la ▁( Be at rag us ▁h unter i ), ▁and ▁species ▁in ▁the ▁genus ▁Dam alis cus , ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁to pi , ▁the ▁ts esse be , ▁the ▁b les b ok ▁and ▁the ▁b onte b ok . ▁The ▁name ▁Con no cha etes ▁was ▁given ▁by ▁German ▁zo ologist ▁Hin rich ▁L ichten stein ▁in ▁ 1 8 1 2 . ▁ ▁Dutch ▁sett lers ▁first ▁discovered ▁w ilde be est ▁in ▁about ▁ 1 7 0 0 , ▁on ▁their ▁way ▁to ▁the ▁interior ▁of ▁South ▁Africa . ▁Due ▁to ▁their ▁res embl ance ▁to ▁wild ▁cattle , ▁these ▁people ▁called ▁them ▁" w ild ▁ox " ▁or ▁" w ilde be est ".