Blue wildebeest

About This Project

The great migration…

Wildebeest are designed for running and can cover great distances at speeds of up to 80 km/h. The females and their calves live in herds, while the males are solitary. During periods of migration, they come together in groups of thousands of animals, stretching for kilometres, as they travel to areas where the grazing is more plentiful.

At La Barben, they live in the African plain enclosure with the white rhinos, the East African oryx and the springboks.

Latin name: Connochaetes taurinus
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Size: 1.4 to 2.4 m long, tail 35 – 56 cm, height at shoulder 1 – 1.45 m
Weight: 118 – 275 kg
Lifespan: 21 years
Gestation: 8 – 8.5 months
Number of young: 1 calf
Habitat: savannah (forest)
Diet: herbivorous
Distribution: from southern Kenya to southern Angola to northern South Africa.
Conservation status: not at risk

Category
Mammalia