South Africa’s large antelopes

ELAND

The common eland (shoulder height 1.7m, max weight 900kg) is widely considered to be Africa’s biggest antelope, but the giant eland – found in sporadic groups from Senegal to northern Uganda – is slightly larger, measuring 1.8m at the shoulder and weighing up to 907kg. For such a huge beast the eland is typically surprisingly timid.

GREATER KUDU

A kudu bull with twisting horns rising to almost 188cm is surely one of Africa’s most majestic ungulates. These talented escape artists are capable of clearing a 2m fence from a standing jump. Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) – with an estimated population of around 2,000 – is arguably the best place on the planet to see kudu.

TSESSEBE

The southern African tsessebe (shoulder height 1.2m, max weight 160kg) is known as the topi in East Africa. It occurs under various names (with several subspecies from West Africa southwards) and is the world’s fastest antelope, able to reach up to 83km/hr. Breeding herds are often sighted from a distance because of the territorial males’ habit of posing on top of termite mounds.

SABLE

The sable (shoulder height 1.35m, max weight 270kg) is named for the intense black of the male’s coat. Females and young are tan or chestnut and all have white underbellies. The sable’s backwardarching horns are perhaps the most spectacular in the animal kingdom with one bull’s (from the giant sable subspecies in Angola) reaching a record-breaking 164.7cm.

NYALA

Distributed southwards of Malawi, nyala (shoulder height 1.2m, max weight 108kg) are colourful in more ways than one, having evolved to the the stage that the nyala ram is the dandy of the antelope tribe. Their stiff-legged ritualistic battles – more a dance than a territorial fight – are one of Africa’s strangest sights.