722 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



"It is usually possible to find a few horns of the mountain nyala 

 ... at Addis Ababa, and the sale of these to foreigners perhaps 

 might be stopped." 



The species is placed in Class A under the London Convention of 

 1933. 



South African Eland 



TAUROTRAGUS ORYX ORYX (Pallas) 



Antilope Oryx Pallas, Misc. Zool., p. 9, 1766. (Type locality restricted by 

 Shortridge (1934, p. 607) to "mountains near Cape Town," Cape Province, 

 South Africa.) 



FIGS.: Harris, 1840, pi. 6; A. Smith, 1849, pis. 40, 41; Bryden, 1899, pi. 12, 

 figs. 1, 3; Sclater and Thomas, 1900, vol. 4, pi. 98; Lydekker, 1908, pi. 12, 

 figs. 1, 3; Roosevelt and Heller, 1914, vol. 2, pi. facing p. 470, upper fig.; 

 Haagner, 1920, p. 221, fig. 130; Leister, 1938, p. 91, lower fig. 



The South African Eland has long been exterminated over most 

 of its former range ; it now survives chiefly in a few protected areas, 

 such as the Kruger National Park. 



The general color of the male is rusty sienna-yellow ; under parts 

 pale cream-yellow; forehead yellowish brown; middle of face below 

 eyes brownish red ; sides of head creamy white ; mane thin brownish 

 yellow; a narrow median reddish brown stripe from shoulders to 

 tail; ears long, narrow, pointed; a dewlap present. Height at 

 shoulder, 5 feet 9J inches. Horns directed backwards, very thick 

 toward the base, with two spiral turns; length, 34 inches. Female 

 slightly paler and with rather slender horns. (A. Smith, 1849, text 

 to pis. 40, 41.) 



The former range of T. o. oryx may be considered to have included 

 practically all of South Africa south of the Limpopo River and the 

 Tropic of Capricorn, except the coastal part of Great Namaqualand. 

 This corresponds to the Southeast Veldt District and the Kalahari 

 Arid District of Bowen (1933, pp. 256, 259, 260) . 



The early writers recorded the Eland from many places in the 

 Cape Province. Kolben (1731, vol. 2, pp. 110-111) refers to the 

 animal as inhabiting the mountains near the Cape of Good Hope; it 

 frequently attempted to enter the garden of the colonists, and was 

 taken in snares set there. 



" "The hide of the Eland, particularly that of the neck, is very 

 thick, and is highly esteemed as soles for shoes ; the rest of the hide, 

 on account of its toughness, is much sought after by the farmers, 

 being valuable as traces for horses. Its flesh is highly esteemed as 

 food; and from the animal being on these various accounts so 

 useful, it is much hunted by the Boers, which accounts for its being 

 now so rarely met within the boundaries of the Colony." (A. Smith, 

 1849, text to pi. 41.) 



