The largest Antelope in South Africa: The Eland
The Eland is the largest of the 72 species of antelope that occupy South Africa’s diverse habitats.
As the largest antelope in Africa, male elands are taller than buffalo bulls and can sometimes be even heavier. A male eland can weigh between 700kg and 840kg while buffalo bulls can weigh between 690kg and 800kg. A mature eland bull gradually becomes blue-grey on the neck, as a sign of dominance. Both sexes of eland have horns that rise from the top of the head and recede to the back, almost straight. In males, these horns are thicker and significantly ridged. Eland can also be identified by the dewlap in the front on both sexes of the species.
Eland, scientifically known as Taurotragus oryx, are predominantly browsers and like to browse on leaves and twigs, also eating some fruits and berries of the trees. However they do eat green grass and in the summer this becomes the bulk of their diet. Eland can inhabit grassland, arid scrub, savanna woodland and also mountain grassland habitats. They feed at night, when the vegetation has more water, by pulling the leaves into the mouth with their lips, not their tongue. This antelope is considered to be water independent and can make long seasonal migrations in order to reach food.
These large mammals have an intriguing social composition whereby they form small herds consisting of males and females in numbers of 4 - 10 in the winter. In summer time these herds congregate and form large mixed herds of up to a few hundred! Herd members show their care by grooming each other. Eland are not very territorial, and the males and females have different chains of command. The older and larger members are high ranking, and the bulls dominate over cows.
Eland are rather large mammals and as a result, they cannot really run fast, so they trot. When they are threatened, the herd comes together with the calves in the centre, and the adults then counter attack with their horns and hooves. The adult bulls can jump up to 2 metres, and the younger juveniles sometimes up to 3 metres, quite peculiar for such large animals.
When watching eland one can easily notice a clicking sound which is difficult to identify. It is a phenomenon that has been widely debated over the years. This clicking sound comes from the eland being a cloven hoofed animal with a heavy weight. So the eland's hoof, unlike those of animals that are more or less the same size, like the buffalo, is designed for a lifestyle where the animal needs to walk long distances. So therefore the inner edges are straighter and sharper, and there is less space between the hoof, making it easy for the two sections of the hoof to come into contact, making a 'click' sound.
Did you know? Western Cattle Egrets like to follow the eland due to the fact that when the eland moves over terrain it disrupts the insects on the ground causing them to move or fly, thus making it easier for the egrets to catch and eat these insects.
