Wildebeest "The Great Space Coaster" (newscaster Gary Gnu), and "The Lion King" (the wildebeest stampede that resulted in Mufasa's death). Michael Flanders wrote a humorous song called "The Gnu", which was very popular when he performed it, with Donald Swann, in a revue called "At the Drop of a Hat", which opened in London on 31 December 1956. The wildebeest is the mascot of the GNU Project and GNU operating system. In the "Llama Llama" picture-book series by Anna Dewdney, an anthropomorphized wildebeest named Nelly Gnu is the main character, Llama Llama's best friend, and is also featured in a title
Blue wildebeest Cradle of Humankind in the past. Apart from eastern Africa, fossils are commonly found in Elandsfontein, Cornelia, and Florisbad. The blue wildebeest exhibits sexual dimorphism, with males being larger and darker than females. The blue wildebeest is typically in head-and-body length. The average height of the species is . While males weigh up to , females seldom exceed . A characteristic feature is the long, black tail, which is around in length. All features and markings of this species are bilaterally symmetrical for both sexes. The average life span is 20 years in the wild, and 21 years in captivity.