Skip to main content

Nyala

Male Nya
The Nyala is a medium-sized antelope found in forested areas and grassland thickets in southern Africa. Males are much larger than the females, and are grey colored with massive horns that can measure as long as 31in (80cm). Females and juveniles are smaller and red. Both sexes have white striping on the sides and crests of longer hair that runs down the back to the tail.

Female and juvenile Nyalas live in groups of up to 30 individuals. Males also form groups, but they are less cohesive. Groups are not very territorial, but they do intermingle with other species, reacting to their alarm calls. Nyalas are most active during dawn and dusk, and they feed by both grazing and browsing.

Breeding can take place at any time of year, and when a female is in heat, males use their huge horns to fight over her. One calf if born at a time, after a gestation of around 7 months. The calf is then hidden by its mother for a few weeks, to protect it from predators while it is still weak.

Though habitat loss once affected their numbers, Nyala populations are now stable. Around 80% of Nyalas live in protected areas, where they are actually becoming too populous in some cases. Males are in high demand by trophy hunters.
Female Nyalas
IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Southern Africa
Size : Weight up to 270lbs (122kg)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Bovidae -- Genus : Tragelaphus -- Species : T. angasii

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...
37 comments
Read more