Eland - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

ELAND (=elk), the Dutch name for the largest of the South African antelopes (Taurotragus oryx), a species near akin to the kudu, but with horns present in both sexes, and their spiral much closer, being in fact screw-like instead of corkscrew-like. There is also a large dewlap, while old bulls have a thick forelock. In the typical southern form the body-colour is wholly pale fawn, but north of the Orange river the body is marked by narrow vertical white lines, this race being known as T. oryx livingstonei. In Senegambia the genus is represented by T. derbianus, a much larger animal, with a dark neck; while in the Bahr-el-Ghazal district there is a gigantic local race of this species (T. derbianus giganteus). (R. L.*)