Red hartebeests are social animal living in organized herds of up to 300 animals. Within the herd there are fout types of animals:
territorial adult makes
nonterritorial adult makesn
groups of young makes
groups of females and young
Hartebeests are usually conspicuous. They may have a sentinel to warn the herd of predators. They are very alert and cautious in comparison to other plains ungulates. Hartebeests rely primarily on their vision to spot predators, and they snort to warn each other of approaching danger.

It is thought that there are strong dominance relationships between females and females have been observed to occasionally fihgt one another.
Males will defend a territory once they have established it. They do so aggressively and they will fight when challenged. A series of head movements and stances preceeds contact. If that does not suffice, males bed forward and leap with their horns lowered. injuries and fatalities do occor, but only rarely.