Nyala are a shy species which inhabit areas of dense thicket and forest, so they can hide easily.
Nyala eat shrubs, leaves and grass. They spend much of their time grazing.
Upon maturity, young females will usually stay with the herd where as males are driven off by courting bulls. These adult males display to scare off rivals by lifting their tail and heads and a crest of white fur on their back. If this fails, they use their spiralled horns to win the right to females in season.
Mothers will leave their newborn hidden away for the first couple of weeks and return to clean and nurse them.
In the past, nyala disappeared from much of their range due to habitat loss caused by farming, over-grazing by cattle, hunting by humans, and rinderpest infection. However, effective habitat protections, species management, and re-introductions of nyala to areas where they had been wiped out have helped the nyala to bounce back.
- Latin Name: Tragelaphus angasii
- Class: Mammals
- Order: Cetartiodactyla
- Family: Bovidae
- Conservation Status: Least Concern
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