The nyala ( Tragelaphus angasii ) is a slender antelope from southeastern Africa. They are part of the spiral-horned antelope tribe, which also includes the kudu and eland. Nyalas are known for having extreme gender differences and specific habitat needs, which restricts where they can be found to the Lowveld of southern Africa. Females have short, bright chestnut coats with white stripes, while males are larger and turn dark charcoal gray as they mature. They also have long horns. Nyalas live in dense woodlands near water and eat both grass and foliage. They form small herds and are not territorial.

What does a nyala look like?

The nyala is a slender antelope from southeastern Africa with notable gender differences. Females have bright chestnut coats with white stripes, spots, and bushy tails, weighing about 58 kg and standing 92 cm tall. Males are larger, reaching 106 cm in height and 98–125 kg in weight, with horns 60–83 cm long. As they mature , males turn dark charcoal gray and shaggy, featuring a long fringe and spinal crest. Their stripes fade, but tan legs, ears, and foreheads remain.

Where do nyalas live in the wild?

Nyala antelopes are native to the Lowveld of southern Africa. They inhabit dense woodlands close to water in the coastal plains and major river valleys of eastern Africa, from southern Malawi to Natal. Their habitat must have high-quality grassland close to the cover where they spend the day. At night during the rainy season, they emerge to graze on green grass. In the dry season, their diet consists of foliage, seeds, and fruits.

The nyala is both a browser and grazer, dwelling in dense woodlands close to water in eastern Africa. During the rainy season, they emerge from the woodlands at night to graze on green grass. However, browse makes up the majority of their diet during the dry season, including foliage, seeds, fruits, and forbs from various dicotyledons.

How do male and female nyalas differ from each other?

Nyala males and females exhibit extreme gender differences, known as sexual dimorphism. Females have short, bright chestnut coats marked with 8–13 white stripes on the torso, along with spots and bands on the legs, chest, and cheeks. They weigh around 58 kg and stand about 92 cm tall at the shoulder. In contrast, males are larger, reaching 106 cm in shoulder height and weighing 98–125 kg. Their horns, present only in males, measure 60–83 cm long and have 1.5–2.5 twists. As they mature, males develop a dark charcoal gray, shaggy coat and a long fringe from their throat to hindquarters, along with an erectile spinal crest. Their stripes and spots fade under the long hair, but the tan lower legs, ears, and forehead remain.

What threats do nyalas face in their natural habitat?

The mountain nyala, a subspecies of the nyala, faces threats in its natural habitat due to increasing human population and susceptibility to livestock diseases. These factors had reduced the species to remnant groups outside of Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains National Park. Although protection efforts led to a population increase, the Ethiopian revolution of 1991 resulted in the park being overrun and the mountain nyala population being decimated. The mountain nyala is now classified as an endangered species .

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nyala

mammal

Also known as: Tragelaphus angasii

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Richard Estes

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What is a nyala?
The nyala (Tragelaphus angasii) is a slender antelope from southeastern Africa. They are part of the spiral-horned antelope tribe, which also includes the kudu and eland. Nyalas are known for having extreme gender differences and specific habitat needs, which restricts where they can be found to the Lowveld of southern Africa.

Females have short, bright chestnut coats with white stripes, while males are larger and turn dark charcoal gray as they mature. They also have long horns. Nyalas live in dense woodlands near water and eat both grass and foliage. They form small herds and are not territorial.
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What does a nyala look like?
The nyala is a slender antelope from southeastern Africa with notable gender differences. Females have bright chestnut coats with white stripes, spots, and bushy tails, weighing about 58 kg and standing 92 cm tall. Males are larger, reaching 106 cm in height and 98–125 kg in weight, with horns 60–83 cm long. As they mature, males turn dark charcoal gray and shaggy, featuring a long fringe and spinal crest. Their stripes fade, but tan legs, ears, and foreheads remain.
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Where do nyalas live in the wild?
Nyala antelopes are native to the Lowveld of southern Africa. They inhabit dense woodlands close to water in the coastal plains and major river valleys of eastern Africa, from southern Malawi to Natal.

Their habitat must have high-quality grassland close to the cover where they spend the day. At night during the rainy season, they emerge to graze on green grass. In the dry season, their diet consists of foliage, seeds, and fruits.
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What do nyalas eat?
The nyala is both a browser and grazer, dwelling in dense woodlands close to water in eastern Africa. During the rainy season, they emerge from the woodlands at night to graze on green grass. However, browse makes up the majority of their diet during the dry season, including foliage, seeds, fruits, and forbs from various dicotyledons.
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How do male and female nyalas differ from each other?
Nyala males and females exhibit extreme gender differences, known as sexual dimorphism. Females have short, bright chestnut coats marked with 8–13 white stripes on the torso, along with spots and bands on the legs, chest, and cheeks. They weigh around 58 kg and stand about 92 cm tall at the shoulder.

In contrast, males are larger, reaching 106 cm in shoulder height and weighing 98–125 kg. Their horns, present only in males, measure 60–83 cm long and have 1.5–2.5 twists. As they mature, males develop a dark charcoal gray, shaggy coat and a long fringe from their throat to hindquarters, along with an erectile spinal crest. Their stripes and spots fade under the long hair, but the tan lower legs, ears, and forehead remain.
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What threats do nyalas face in their natural habitat?
The mountain nyala, a subspecies of the nyala, faces threats in its natural habitat due to increasing human population and susceptibility to livestock diseases. These factors had reduced the species to remnant groups outside of Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains National Park. Although protection efforts led to a population increase, the Ethiopian revolution of 1991 resulted in the park being overrun and the mountain nyala population being decimated. The mountain nyala is now classified as an endangered species.
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nyala, (Tragelaphus angasii), slender antelope of southeastern Africa, a member of the spiral-horned antelope tribe Tragelaphini (family Bovidae), which also includes the kudu and eland. The nyala is notable for its extreme gender differences (sexual dimorphism) and specialized habitat preferences that limit its distribution to the Lowveld of southern Africa.

Females and young sport short, bright chestnut coats with 8–13 white stripes on the torso, spots and bands on the legs, chest, and cheeks, and a bushy tail with a white underside. Females weigh about 58 kg (128 pounds) and have a shoulder height of 92 cm (36 inches). Males are much larger, standing 106 cm (42 inches) tall and weighing 98–125 kg (216–275 pounds), and carry horns 60–83 cm (24–33 inches) long with 1.5–2.5 twists. They gradually turn dark charcoal gray and shaggy as they mature and have a long fringe from throat to hindquarters and an erectile spinal crest from head to tail. Their stripes and spots mostly disappear under the long hair, but the tan lower legs, ears, and forehead persist. Males resemble a dryland version of the male sitatunga, whereas females could pass for lesser kudus.

The nyala is a cover-dependent browser and grazer that occupies the densest woodlands close to water on the coastal plain and in major river valleys of eastern Africa from southern Malawi to Natal. The habitat has to include high-quality grassland next to the cover where nyalas spend daytimes and from which they emerge to graze green grass at night during the rainy season. Browse, including the foliage of various dicotyledons as well as forbs, seeds, and fruits, dominates the dry-season diet.

Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). Animals, mammals.

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Females and young form loose herds of five or six animals with home ranges of 50–100 hectares (120–250 acres). Males are nonterritorial, share overlapping ranges of about 80 hectares (200 acres), associate in fluid bachelor herds as subadults, and compete for dominance with a spectacular lateral display that gives the shaggiest seniors with the longest horns the advantage. Mating peaks occur during the summer in the southernmost populations, but births occur year-round, after a seven-month gestation. Calves lie out for 10–18 days before accompanying and foraging with their mothers.

The related mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), endemic to the Ethiopian highlands east of the Rift Valley and discovered only in 1908, is much more like a greater kudu than another nyala in size, proportions, and social organization. Both sexes are gray-brown with faded stripes but have two conspicuous white throat patches, nose chevron, cheek spots, and underside of the bushy tail and a brown-and-white spinal crest. Coat length varies seasonally. Senior males are sepia-coloured, with open spiral horns up to 120 cm (47 inches) along the curve. Males, nearly as big as the greater kudu, stand up to 130 cm (51 inches) and weigh up to 300 kg (660 pounds); females weigh 150–200 kg (330–440 pounds).

Specialized for montane habitats between 3,000 and 4,500 metres (10,000 and 15,000 feet) and having a limited geographic range, the mountain nyala is a particularly vulnerable species. Increasing human population and susceptibility to livestock diseases had already reduced the species to remnant groups outside of Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains National Park. There, beginning in the 1970s, they increased to at least 1,700 over 15 years of effective protection. However, after the Ethiopian revolution of 1991, the park was overrun, and the mountain nyala population was reduced to an estimated 150 animals. After protection was restored, the population quickly increased to more than 2,500 by the end of the century. The mountain nyala is now classified as an endangered species.

Richard Estes

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