Painting of Blue wildebeest ( Connochaetes taurinus):The Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) is a large ungulate mammal of the Bovid family.They range the open plains, bushveld and dry woodlands of Southern and East Africa, realizing a life span in excess of twenty years. This herbivore is a grazing animal that is often sighted in open grasslands or clearings in a savanna. The male is highly territorial using scent markings and other devices to protect his domain. The largest population is in the Serengeti, numbering over one million animals.The Blue Wildebeest is sometimes called Brindled Gnu.Probably the most conspicuous feature of the Blue Wildebeest are the large horns shaped like parentheses, extending outward to the side and then curving up and inward.Young Blue Wildebeest are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult colouration at age nine weeks.Blue Wildebeest are found in open and bush-covered savanna in south and east Africa, thriving in areas that are neither too wet nor too arid. They can be found in places that vary from overgrazed areas with dense bush to open woodland floodplains. Wildebeests prefer the bushveld and grasslands of the southern savanna.Blue Wildebeests can tolerate arid regions, as long as a potable water supply is available.Blue Wildebeests are a favorite prey item to lions and spotted hyenas. They also fall prey to cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs and Nile crocodiles. The latter stalk them at river crossings.