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Saw this young one on the Mahonie loop in June 2005.

Saw two bulls on the Lower Sabie road in October. They were very shy and retreated into the bush immediately. Only managed a shot of them walking away. Special sighting for me, as I wasn't expecting to see any at all, being in the south.

Did you know...
Nyala males are bulls and the females are ewes. The nyala is the antelope where rams, bulls, cows and ewes are divided. Anything smaller are rams and ewes and bigger are bulls and cows

Best sighting we had was across the river from the Shingwedzi cafe. I kept by binoculars on a male and female grazing for about half an hour

I think the Nyala ewe is one of the prettiest of our antelope, I just love the markings and colour and of course the striking difference between the male and female.
In the KZN parks they are a really common sighting.

Also saw a Nyala bull at the Timbavati River view (not Bobbejaankrans) on the H7 between Orpen ans Satara during May this year. Quite aften saw them along the Sabie River near Nkuhlu. Also saw a bull in the river from Olifants view point (in front of restaurant) a few years ago. From the Shingwedzi River northwards they are quite common, but sightings further south is always exciting to me.

On a recent trip to a game reserve we saw more Nyala than Impala. Spending some time in one of the game hides I got photos of behaviour of some of the Nyala bulls.

First off there was a number of the bulls who were rubbing their horns in the mud. All of them used nearly the same spot to do this. I read some were that the idea behind this was that the mud caked on the horns will make the horns look bigger and therefore the bull will also look more impressive to its rivals






I also saw this bull, arching and raising the hair on its back as other Nyala bulls walked pass him. The others did not even look in his direction but just carried on walking. I assume this is a behavioural pattern to make it look more intimidating. Any comments on this statement?

Hi there

You are so right. This is fairly common territorial/dominance behaviour. according to Richard Despato Estes in The behaviour guide to African mammels the Arched back posture and ground horning are dominace displays and a head low, neck winding and nose-in-the-air displays shows submissiveness. (refer page 175-177).

Also know about the family on the Sabie River road.
I once saw a family on the Crocodile River dirt road near the Malelane side. Was very supprised to see them there.

Anyone else that knows about Nyalas near Berg & Dal?

Very Interesting LaeveldLeeu that you saw Nyala on the Crocodile river road....I've never seen them there so thats something to look out for down there in Dec at Biyamiti.
The Nyala in the Sabie River System are the subject of a joke and an expensive experiment that initially went horribly wrong. In the early seventies our neighbours on Sparta (Londolozi ) went Commercial and imported Cheetah and other things including Nyala. They were released along the Sand River on that property and guests were thrilled to see them at first but soon the sightings became less and less because the Nyala went walkabout and ended up wandering down the Sand River through Mala Mala, Flockfield, Charleston and Toulon (Now called Kirkmans Camp) and into Kruger and finally the Sabie River, where they were unheard of. I can still see Dirk Ackerman's face (former Chief Ranger KNP) who was with me on a short drive on the main Lower Sabie Road when a beautiful Nyala Bull crossed the road right in front of his truck. I also had never seen one there either but Dirk's statement "#@^*@**" said it all!!! Now they are a common sight so thanks Londos for the free gift to Kruger!!

LaeveldLeeu,

Nyala are seen quite often at Berg-En-Dal camp on the Rhino Trail which goes also by the dam, they are also seen quite often on the Napi Trail, but more common on Sabie River Road & Very common up near Pafuri & Punda Maria.

We saw a bull and 2 females in the unnamed lookout point near Bobbejaankranz on the h7 last year, and a bull on the 'Rabelais' road parallel to the h7

Thats brilliant they seem to be spreading all over the Park whersas 50 years ago "Apparently" they were only found at Pafuri and the Lebombos near Olifants Gorge.... Theres a big argument in the Eastern Cape as some Game farmers have introduced them on their properties to the detriment of the Bushbuck population....I'm not a Scientist so does anyone know something about his observation.