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I wonder if this is the same nyala we saw in June 2008. We saw it in the same area and I see several people have reported the same animal. Very interesting.

This was Jeanus' response to the sighting of a "female with horns".

Hi your highness !

The fawn colored Nyala you posted above might most probably be a bull that will object to being called feminine !

I have often seen youngish bulls still in fawn or dark hues of brown but it should be remembered that ALL Nyala bulls are fawn in their teenager days and gradually turn charcoal as they age. Clearly some Nyala bulls remain fawn for longer than others, an example was a fully grown bull that carried a particularly good trophy size set of horns I encountered on an Oribi Gorge game farm.

The fawn colored Nyala you posted above is also of a similar size than the charcoal colored bull following it and that also points to it being a bull, female Nyala are always considerably smaller than bulls.

When observing fawn colored Nyala with horns we should always try to sex them by their genitals – that will be the only convincing ID.

By the way, in early May this year we came across a particularly good looking Nyala bull about 200m outside the Letaba camp's gate.

This one was really a female, Im sure!

DSC_0094 by Gerharddb, on Flickr

Saw a group of 5 them close to Lake Panic. This little lam, which were still very small, were part of the group. Very cute and full of energy.

Nyala can turn up in the weirdest places. I once came across a group of bulls in the middle of the Manyeleti, which is not exaclty known for its riverine habitat. They were in run-of-the-mill broad-leaved bushveld dominated by various Combretum species.

Johan