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The mountain nyala (
Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
: የተራራ ኒዮላ) (''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') or balbok is an antelope found in high altitude
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
in a small part of central
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. It is a
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
species (without any identified subspecies) first described by English naturalist
Richard Lydekker Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker ...
in 1910. The males are typically tall while females stand at the shoulder. Males weigh and females weigh . The coat is grey to brown, marked with two to five poorly defined white strips extending from the back to the underside, and a row of six to ten white spots. White markings are present on the face, throat and legs as well. Males have a short dark erect crest, about high, running along the middle of the back. Only males possess horns. The mountain nyala are shy and elusive towards human beings. Four to five individuals may congregate for short intervals of time to form small herds. Males are not
territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
. Primarily a browser, the mountain nyala may switch to grazing occasionally. Females start mating at two years of age, and males too become sexually mature by that time. Gestation lasts for eight to nine months, after which a single calf is born. The lifespan of a mountain nyala is around 15 to 20 years. The typical habitat for the mountain nyala is composed of montane woodlands at an altitude of . Human settlement and large livestock population have forced the animal to occupy heath forests at an altitude of above . Mountain nyala are endemic to the Ethiopian highlands east of the Rift Valley, between 6°N and 10°N. Up to half of the total population of the mountain nyala occurs in the area of Gaysay, in the northern part of the Bale Mountains National Park. The mountain nyala has been classified under the
Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...
category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Their influence on Ethiopian culture is notable, with the mountain nyala being featured on the obverse of Ethiopian ten cents coins.


Taxonomy

The mountain nyala was first described by English naturalist
Richard Lydekker Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker ...
in 1910. Its scientific name is ''Tragelaphus buxtoni''. The species has been classified under the genus '' Tragelaphus'' of the family Bovidae. The mountain nyala was first brought to
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
in 1908 by Major Ivor Buxton, after whom the species has been named. Major Buxton, who had returned from a hunting trip in
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, first presented a specimen he had shot to British taxidermist Rowland Ward, who later on notified Lydekker about the discovery. It was the last large antelope to be discovered in Africa. The spiral horns and white markings on the face and across the flanks established it as a species of ''Tragelaphus''. Lydekker believed that the species was related more closely to the
nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Tragelaphus'', previously placed in genus ''Nyala''. It was first described in ...
(''T. angasii'') than to the two kudu species (then placed under the genus ''Strepsiceros''). In fact, mountain nyala's similarity to both ''Tragelaphus'' and ''Strepsiceros'' led to the merger of the latter into the former genus. In 2005, Sandi Willows-Munro of the
University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westvill ...
(
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
) carried out a
mitochondria A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used ...
l analysis of the nine ''Tragelaphus'' species. mtDNA and nDNA data were compared. The results showed that the mountain nyala is sister
taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
to
bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ran ...
(''T. scriptus''),
sitatunga The sitatunga or marshbuck (''Tragelaphus spekii'') is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea ...
(''T. spekii'') and bongo (''T. eurycerus'') in the mitochondrial tree (phylogenetic relationships obtained using mitochondrial data). However, in the nuclear tree, bushbuck, mountain nyala and sitatunga plus the bongo are three equal branches. Hence the mountain nyala forms a monophyletic
clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English ter ...
with these three species. The greater kudu clade split from the clade formed by mountain nyala, bongo, sitatunga and bushbuck approximately 8.6 million years ago.


Description

The mountain nyala is a large sexually dimorphic bovid. The head-and-body length is approximately in males and in females. The males are typically tall while females stand at the shoulder. Males weigh and females weigh . The bushy tail reaches the heel, and is long. The sensitive ears are large and lined with white hair. The coat is grey to brown, marked with two to five poorly defined white strips extending from the back to the underside, and a row of six to ten white spots. White markings are present on the face, throat and legs as well. The white
chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...
between the eyes and the white patch on the throat are among the most conspicuous markings. The chest and the rump are white. The lower part of the legs are pale on the inside and clear white spots are present just above the hooves. The coat is fawn brown in male juveniles, and grows darker with age, eventually becoming charcoal in old bulls. Males have a short dark erect crest, about high, running along the middle of the back, from the neck to the tail. Coat texture may vary from smooth to rough, probably by season. Females resemble the
red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...
hind in size and proportions. Female juveniles are a bright rufous, and old females are as grey as young males. Females have two pairs of
inguinal In human anatomy, the inguinal region refers to either the groin or the lower lateral regions of the abdomen. It may also refer to: * Conjoint tendon, previously known as the inguinal aponeurotic falx, a structure formed from the transversus abd ...
nipple The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in females, milk leaves the breast through the lactiferous ducts to feed an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively or it can be ejected by smooth ...
s. Only males possess horns, whose maximum recorded length is . Horns appear as cream-coloured nubs at around six months and start growing in a spiral pattern, reaching full growth by two years. The horns have only one or two spirals, though a few males have been reported to have two-and-a-half turns. The final form might vary in different males – the horns could form well-defined spirals, or could diverge in a structure similar to a lyre, resembling the horns of an impala, but with the final spiral incomplete. Growth rings are visible on the horn sheaths, but the annual patterns might be difficult to comprehend. Though the horns might wear out with age, the cream colour of the tips persists. The mountain nyala resembles the greater kudu in that both have an array of white spots along their flanks and possess spiral horns. However, the greater kudu can be told apart from the mountain nyala due to the former's greater height and paler colour. Moreover, the horns in greater kudu have two to three spirals, and the tips are farther apart. Another species similar to the mountain nyala is the nyala, but the latter can be easily distinguished from the former due to its smaller size and a fringe of long hair along its throat and neck. The horns of nyala, though very similar, are slender and narrower.


Ecology and behaviour

The mountain nyala are shy and elusive towards human beings. They spend the night on the edges of forests, feeding part of the time. To avoid human disturbance, they choose to navigate at night. They come out in morning and late afternoon to browse in grasslands. They generally seek cover in woodlands and heather thickets when it is very hot or cold. Feeding may occur in midday, but is interspersed with resting intervals. They tend to come out when it is overcast or raining. In the dry season (November to March), given the dilapidated state of grasslands, the mountain nyala travel up to the wooden areas rich in ericaceous heath. Four to five individuals may congregate for short intervals of time to form small herds. However, groups containing as many as 100 individuals have been reported from the
Bale Zone ( Oromo: Aaana ''Baalee'') is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Bale is bordered on the south by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Guji Zone, on the west by the West Arsi Zone, on the north by Arsi Zone, on the northeast by the S ...
, composed of several family units moving in and out periodically. Size and longevity of such large herds depends upon the season, habitat type and the time of the day. Female and juvenile groups have adult females accompanied by a calf of her previous year and another of the current year. These groups are led by adult males, depending on the presence of
oestrus The estrous cycle (, originally ) is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrou ...
. Bachelor herds are formed by non-dominant adult bulls and young males, consisting of up to 13 individuals. Mixed sex groups may also be formed. Old bulls tend to lead a solitary life, though they may occasionally visit female herds looking for females in oestrus. Dominance hierarchies are observed in both sexes. Males are not
territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
, and have home ranges covering in the wet season. Females and juveniles, on the other hand, occupy much smaller ranges of about in the wet season. Dry season ranges are much larger than the wet season ones for both sexes. Males often wrestle using their horns. Though usually silent, the mountain nyala may "cough" noticing a potential threat, or utter a low bark if the threat is more serious. The leopard is the main predator of the mountain nyala.


Diet

Primarily a browser, the mountain nyala may switch to grazing occasionally. It feeds on low-height herbs, bushes, shrubs and general foliage. They might even eat lichens,
fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...
s and aquatic plants. Grasses are specially preferred during the early wet season. They pick up fallen leaves and use their horns to reach higher branches. Favoured species include '' Artemisia afra'' (African wormwood), ''
Hypericum revolutum ''Hypericum revolutum'' is a shrub or small tree in the genus ''Hypericum'' native to Arabia and Africa. It is evergreen, with leaves opposite, closely spaced and crowded at the ends of branches, c. 20 × 5 mm, green to slightly glaucous, se ...
'', '' Kniphofia foliosa'', '' Solanum sessilistellatum'' and ''
Hagenia abyssinica ''Hagenia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species ''Hagenia abyssinica'', native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of Eas ...
'' leaves. They prefer '' Alchemilla rotti'', '' Helichrysum splendidum'' and lower foliage of ''
Lobelia rhynchopetalum ''Lobelia rhynchopetalum'', the giant lobelia, is a plant endemic to Ethiopia. Its habitat is the Afroalpine climate of the Semien Mountains and Bale Mountains National Park Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia. Th ...
''.


Reproduction

Females start mating at two years of age, and males too become sexually mature by that time. Sexual dimorphism, larger home ranges for males, and a female-biased population indicate
polygyny Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...
in the species. The mountain nyala breed throughout the year, but the peak occurs in December. Prior to and during the breeding season the adult males tend to get associated with mixed sex herds. Bulls continuously follow receptive females and test their
vulva The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vestibular bulbs, vulv ...
s. Three to four males may seek a single female, and, if equally ranked in hierarchy, may engage in circling displays. In these displays the males move very slowly and stiffly, with the crest on the back erect and the tail raised. They are less likely to engage in aggressive fights, which, if they happen, last only for a brief period. Flehmen follows vulva-testing. Gestation lasts for eight to nine months, after which a single calf is born. In the Bale Mountains National Park, births occur throughout the year, but peak from September to November. Calves remain in cover for the first few weeks after birth. The calves remain close to their mothers for nearly two years. The young females may get pregnant by then. The young males, as they mature by two years, are challenged by other males and driven out of their herds. The lifespan of a mountain nyala is around 15 to 20 years.


Habitat and distribution

The typical habitat for the mountain nyala is composed of montane woodlands at an altitude of . The vegetation generally includes African juniper (''Juniperus procera''), ''
Afrocarpus gracilior ''Afrocarpus gracilior'' (syn. ''Podocarpus gracilior'') is a species of coniferous tree in the family Podocarpaceae known as benet in Marakwet and East African yellowwood, African fern tree, or bastard yellowwood in English It is native to east ...
'', and '' Olea'' at lower levels and ''
Hagenia abyssinica ''Hagenia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species ''Hagenia abyssinica'', native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of Eas ...
'', juniper, and ''
Hypericum revolutum ''Hypericum revolutum'' is a shrub or small tree in the genus ''Hypericum'' native to Arabia and Africa. It is evergreen, with leaves opposite, closely spaced and crowded at the ends of branches, c. 20 × 5 mm, green to slightly glaucous, se ...
'' in the upper reaches. They often visit the edges of montane grasslands at , which is covered with '' Artemisia afra'', ''
Kniphofia ''Kniphofia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae, first described as a genus in 1794. Species are native to Africa. Common names include tritoma, red hot poker, torch lily and poker plant. Description Herbaceou ...
'', and evergreen ''Hypericum'' species. Nowadays the continuous blocks of woodland habitat have been reduced to a series of pockets, interspersed in large cultivated lands. Human settlement and large livestock population have forced the animal to occupy heath forests at an altitude of above rich in '' Erica arborea'', ''
Erica trimera ''Erica trimera'' is a species of flowering plant. It is a shrub or tree which grows in the mountains of eastern and central Africa. Description ''Erica trimera'' is an evergreen shrub or tree which grows from .4 to 12 meters in height, with a ...
'', ''Hypericum'', '' Euphorbia'', and '' Helichrysum'' species. They may even be forced into afroalpine grasslands containing '' Alchemilla'' and '' Festuca'' species, at an altitude of up to . In the eastern borders of its range, the mountain nyala has usually been observed to occupy areas at lower altitudes of about . Mountain nyala are endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands east of the Rift Valley, between 6°N and 10°N. Their former range was from Mount Gara Muleta in the east to Shashamene and the northern Bale Zone to the south. Up to half of the total population of the mountain nyala occurs in the area of Gaysay, in the northern part of the Bale Mountains National Park. Smaller relict populations occur in Chercher, mountains such as Chilalo in
Arsi Zone Arsi ( om, Godina Arsii) is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, named after a clan of the Oromo, who inhabit in the area. Arsi is bordered on the south by Bale Zone, on the southwest by the West Arsi Zone, on the northwest by East Shewa Zone, ...
, and the western Bale. A study identified an area of on the southern escarpment of the Bale Mountains as the most sustainable habitat for the mountain nyala.


Threats and conservation

Major threats to the survival of the mountain nyala include illegal hunting, habitat destruction, encroachment by livestock, predation of calves by dogs, expansion of montane cultivation and construction at high altitudes. The animal is extensively hunted for its horns and meat. The meat is utilised in local medicine and for making nipples for traditional milk bottles. Impact of trophy hunting programs is obscure, and current trophy hunting quotas may be unsustainable in the long term although, if well regulated, trophy hunting could play an important role in the long term management of this species. The mountain nyala has been classified under the Endangered category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). It has not been listed under the Washington Convention (CITES). Though legal protection has been fully ensured for the species, the implementation has not been so effective. In 1991, there was widespread unrest in Ethiopia during which several mountain nyala were killed and the population in the Bale Mountains National Park fell to 150. After the Bale Mountains National Park, the small Kuni-Muktar Mountain Nyala Sanctuary was established in 1990 was established as a second protected area. But by 1996 the sanctuary had been so severely affected by deforestation, poaching, cultivation and
gully erosion A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...
, that the populations soon disappeared from there. In the 1960s, the population was estimated at 7,000 to 8,000 (and perhaps up to 12,500). This declined sharply to 2,000 to 4,000 individuals in the 1980s. The population is decreasing even now. The mountain nyala is feared to be extinct in the eastern and southern extremes of its range, though a few probably survive in Chiro (Asebe Teferi) and the border between Bale and Sidamo, south of Kofele. Apart from Gaysay about 80 to 120 mountain nyala occur in the rest of the Bale Mountains National Park, and a few hundred occur in the areas in the vicinity of the national park.


Relationship with humans

The influence of the mountain nyala, as well as the nyala, on Ethiopian culture can not be ignored. Although nyala is a South African word, several prominent businesses such as Nyala Motors use it in their names. The nyala and mountain nyala often regularly appear on walls, commercial products and tourist curios. The mountain nyala is featured on the obverse of the Ethiopian ten cents coin. Mountain nyala are hunted by humans, for instance, by the Oromo people. The Oromo do not hunt these animals in general, except for a day close to Easter, when all able-bodied men set out on horses for a hunt.


References


External links

* ITISbr>entry
on ''Tragelaphus buxtoni'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q255576
mountain nyala The mountain nyala (Amharic: የተራራ ኒዮላ) (''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') or balbok is an antelope found in high altitude woodland in a small part of central Ethiopia. It is a monotypic species (without any identified subspecies) first de ...
Mammals of Ethiopia Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Fauna of the Horn of Africa Bale Mountains Fauna of the Ethiopian Highlands Endangered biota of Africa
mountain nyala The mountain nyala (Amharic: የተራራ ኒዮላ) (''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') or balbok is an antelope found in high altitude woodland in a small part of central Ethiopia. It is a monotypic species (without any identified subspecies) first de ...
Bovids of Africa