Facts about the Texas Eland
The common eland is the world’s second largest antelope species. Their coat is an orangey-brown but becomes more grey in males as they age. Apart from the rough black mane their coat is smooth. At the tip of the tail is a tuft of black fur. Down their sides are vertical white stripes. On top of a males head their fur is quite dense. Both species have a pair of tightly spiraled horns coming out of the head. The males horns reach 43-66c (17-26in) long while females come in between 51 and 69cm (20-27in). Under the throat is a dewlap (a fold of skin).
Males are larger than females measuring 240-345cm (59-72in) from the snout to the start of the tail. The tail adds 50-90cm (20-35in) to the length of both males and females. At the shoulder they stand 150-183cm (59-72in) tall). An average weight for a male eland would be somewhere between 400 and 492kg (882-2,077lb).
Females measure between 200 and 280cm (79-110in) from the snout to the start of the tail. At the shoulder they stand 125-153cm (49-60in) tall. Weights range from 300-600kg (660-1,320lb) for females.
Lifespan in the wild is between 15 and 20 years while in captivity they may reach 25 years of age.
Mating may occur anytime. It generally occurs when the elands all gather on the lush green plains where they can feed on the plentiful grasses. Males will test the females urine and chase them to see if they are in season. The females allow the dominant female to mate with them. It is normally 2-4 hours before the female allows him to mount. A male can mate with a number of females. On some occasions males will engage in fights using their horns.
Nine months after mating the female gives birth to a single calf. The mother leaves her herd to give birth. They may remain separated from the herd for 24 hours until they are ready to return to the herd.
Young will form their own small herd that stays close to the female herd. Most of the time they are concealed than moving around with their mothers.
Weaning occurs at six months old. They will still stay within their calf group for up to two years. After this they will go off and join a male or female herd. Sexually maturity is achieved between one and three years of age while males are not mature until four to five years of age
The common eland is crepuscular. In the morning and evening they eat. During the heat of the day they rest.
When a predator is spotted the bull in the group will bark and walk back and forth to alert other elands of the danger. They also communicate through the smells in their urine.
Elands are the world’s slowest antelope.
The scientific name taurotragus oryx comes from Greek. Tauros means a bull, tragos means a he-goat and oryx mean a gazelle or antelope.
