Blue Wildebeest

The **Blue Wildebeest** appeared in 2017 TV series called *Kemono Friends*. The Blue Wildebeest is a type of Friend that first appeared in Guidebook 4.

Blue Wildebeest is a friend with a "gentle giant" appearance: a stockier body as compared to some friends, but overall seems soft and quiet. This is perfectly illustrated from her soot-colored doe eyes, contrasting against massive horns. Her long hair is a duo-color blend of onyx and off-white, but the latter makes up a majority of her "coat". Her animal parts include a pair of droopy ungulate ears, and a long, fluffy black tail. Around her neck she wears a furry scarf resembling the beard of her real-life counterpart over what appears to be a white short-sleeved blazer. Underneath her blazer, she has a long-sleeved sweater, and creme pleated skirt. Her boots are a similar color, notched at the top with little bows. At the tip of the boots are features resembling a cloven hoof.

The Blue Wildebeest, also sometimes referred to as the common wildebeest, white-bearded wildebeest, or brindled gnu, is a large antelope. It exhibits sexual dimorphism, with males being larger and darker than females. The blue wildebeest is typically 170 to 240 cm in head-and-body length. The average height of the species is 115 to 145 cm . While males weigh up to 290 kg, females seldom exceed 260 kg. A characteristic feature is the long, black tail, which is around 60 to 100 cm in length.  All features and markings of this species are bilaterally symmetrical for both sexes.

This broad-shouldered antelope has a muscular, front-heavy appearance, with a distinctive robust muzzle. The adults' hues range from a deep slate or bluish gray to light gray or even grayish brown. The back and flanks are slightly lighter than the ventral surface and underparts. Dark brown, vertical stripes mark the area between the neck and the back of the ribcage. The manes of both sexes appear long, stiff, thick, and jet black, the same color as the tail and face. Both sexes possess a pair of large horns. These extend outward to the side, and then curve upward and inward. In the males, the horns can be 83 cm long, while the horns of the females are 30 to 40 cm long.

Blue wildebeest are mainly found in short-grass plains bordering bush-covered acacia savannas in southern and eastern Africa, thriving in areas that are neither too wet nor too arid. They can be found in habitats that vary from overgrazed areas with dense bush to open woodland floodplains.

The timing of the migration in both directions can vary considerably from year to year. At the end of the rainy season, they migrate to dry-season areas in response to a lack of drinking water. When the rainy season begins again a few months later, the animals trek back to their wet-season range. These movements and access to nutrient-rich forage for reproduction allow migratory wildebeest populations to grow to much larger numbers than resident populations.

The blue wildebeest is mostly active during the morning and the late afternoon, with the hottest hours of the day being spent in rest. These extremely agile and wary animals can run at speeds up to 80 km/h. The wildebeest usually rest close to others of their kind and move about in loose aggregations.

Territorial males are solitary whilst defending their territory and will wait for females to pass through their territory. Generally, the stronger the bull the better his territory will be, this is depicted by the abundance of food and water.

The blue wildebeest is a herbivore, feeding primarily on the short grasses which commonly grow on light, and alkaline soils that are found in savanna grasslands and on plains. The animal's broad mouth is adapted for eating large quantities of short grass and it feeds both during the day and night. When grass is scarce, it will also eat the foliage of shrubs and trees. Whenever possible, the wildebeest likes to drink twice daily and due to its regular requirement for water, it usually inhabits moist grasslands and areas with available water sources. The blue wildebeest drinks 9 to 12 litres of water every one to two days.

An average life span of a blue wildebeest is 20 years in the wild, and 23 years in captivity.