Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. By my calculation we only have 3 weeks of winter left before the weather breaks. That is of course if you listened to Puxatawny Phil that is. The groundhog never saw his shadow so winter of course is almost over. No matter how long the frozen season lasts, one thing is for sure. We’re going to be open (minus major holidays), and the animals will be here too. This week we take a look at one of the mighty antelope that we have living in Timbavati Wildlife Park, the eland.
The eland is a an antelope from the southern and eastern plains of Africa. The eland is the largest antelope, there are two species of eland, the giant eland and the common eland. An adult male eland can be as heavy as 2200 pounds and stand about 5 feet tall at the shoulders.
The eland can jump really high also, it can easily clear a two meter fence if it has a good head of steam. The eland is crepuscular. This means that they are active primarily at dusk and dawn, during the heat of the day they rest to conserve energy and stay cool. A herd of elan can have up to 500 members and they will travel the plains with other antelopes and zebras.
Mating typically occurs when the plains are lush with fresh vegetation. The gestation period for a female eland is nine months and the mother gives birth to a single calf. The mother leaves the herd to give birth and can be gone for up to 24 hours. The young actually form their own herd and are hidden in the herd until they wean which is after about 6 months.
For more awesome animal facts come and take our Encounters Tour. We have two tours that kick off daily at 11am and 1pm. Tickets can be purchased online or at the park, just enter through the gift shop. Don’t forget to check out this week’s video and we will see you in the park!
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