Eastern Giant Elands

This is my first time seeing these impressive creatures at the Zoo. As their name implies, the eastern giant eland is huge! It’s the largest antelope in the world. The males weigh 880 to 2,200 pounds and females weigh 660 to 1,320 pounds. They are found in the woodlands and savannas of central Africa. Both males and females have those beautiful spiraled horns. They can run up to about 43 mph and use their speed as a defense against predators.They have a dewlap that hangs to the upper chest, larger in males than females, with a fringe of hair on it’s edge. I know I was captivated by them! The details of their markings, and all the lovely shades of their coloring had me appreciating them from the tip of their fancy horns to the black fringe on their long tails. And they even gave me a look at how elands play, with a horn to horn dual!