Unidentified Jedha riding beast During the Galactic Empire ' s occupation of the holy moon of Jedha , Imperial sandtrooper s used blue - skinned , long - legged beasts as mounts to traverse the moon ' s cold desert landscape and to patrol pilgrim age routes to Jedha City . After the destruction of Jedha City by the Death Star ' s superlaser , the beasts were also used by the surviving members of Saw Gerrera ' s rebel Partisans as well as Rebel Alliance members Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker while they were on a mission to locate and help the survivors on Jedha . Biology and appearance . The creatures were a blue - skinned , quadrupedal species that possessed a pair of gray eye s , a long neck , and a small tail . With their four long , slender legs , they stood up to 4 . 9 meter s , or sixteen feet , high . The beasts that dwelled on Jedha after the destruction of Jedha City had breath mask s strapped to their faces due to the harsh conditions on the moon . History . The long - legged beasts served as riding mounts for Imperial sandtrooper s on the desert moon of Jedha during its occupation by the Galactic Empire prior to the Battle of Yavin . Riding these creatures , Imperial troopers traversed the chilly sands of Jedha , patrolling pilgrim age routes to Jedha City , and watching for smuggler s and Saw Gerrera ' s rebel Partisans . The trooper s who rode the mounts also wielded pike s . In the year 0 BBY , the Empire destroyed Jedha City in an effort to test the superlaser of the Death Star battle station . The city ' s destruction devastated the entire moon and dealt a major blow to the Partisans . Sometime after the Battle of Yavin , Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker of the Rebel Alliance rode two of the beasts while leading a team on a mission to Jedha in an attempt to make contact with the surviving members of the Partisans . Shortly after the pair rescued two Partisans named Ubin Des and Chulco Gi , an Imperial patrol transport shot down Skywalker ' s mount . All four rebels were then forced to get on the same mount , eventually escaping the Imperials with the help of the starship " Millennium Falcon " . The beasts were also utilized by the Partisans , who , along with their new allies from the Rebel Alliance , rode them during their attack on an Imperial drill citadel that was mining for kyber crystal s on Jedha . Behind the scenes . The Jedha riding beast was created and developed for " " , the 2016 film that marks the first entry in the " Star Wars Anthology Series " . Prior to the film ' s release , the mount was first depicted in the reference book " " , which included a map of Jedha in connection to the then - upcoming " Rogue One " . The book was illustrated by Tim McDonagh and published on November 3 , 2016 . Inspiration for " Rogue One " Holy City of Jedha was drawn from real - life like and , as well as other , mostly desert locations in the and . Thus , the long - legged mounts were inspired by that inhabit those lands . Concept artist Christian Alzmann ' s illustration of the creature featured in " " was titled " Jedha Camel . " " Rogue One " director Gareth Edwards also called the creatures " space camels . " During the filming of " Rogue One " on July 23 – 24 , 2015 , in , stormtroopers were filmed riding camels between Jedha City and the lookout rock where Cassian Andor , Jyn Erso , and K - 2SO stand in the film . The camels were to be digitally replaced with a creature design by Christian Alzmann , but the shots were ultimately cut . However , the creatures can still be seen in some scenes within Jedha City , which were completely digitally generated .