Blue Wildebeest
Description and Identification :
Shoulder height: Males 1,5 m
Females 1,3 m
Body mass: Males 250 kg
Females 80 kg
- Sault males –dark grey with a silvery sheen
- Dark colored bars – neck , shoulders and extending back to the mid –body – brindled appearance
- Mane of long black hair –droops over the shoulders
- Long whisk of black hair –on the tail
- Fringe of black hair down the middle of the throat
- The sides of the face are grayish, sometimes tinged russet
- Blue Gnu adult males have a patch of russet colored hair on the forehead
- Bodies of the females and juveniles are browner than those of the adult males
- And the russet on the forehead is more extensive
Social Behavior :
- Blue Gnu herds- 10 to 30 or 100 individuals
- Territorial males / bachelor groups / female herds
- Blue gnu Bulls round up harem herds
- Bawling and grunting occurs before fighting
- Strange bulls are usually rejected
- Adult males and young males compromise the bachelor group
- Nomadic territories are marked by scent
- females –snort and low
- Calves bleat or low grount
- Protection is sought through forming groups
Source: J D Skinner an R H N Smithers: mammals of the southern african subregion; Hunting School-Seminar Study Namibia
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