- Baboon
- Buffalo
- Bushbuck
- Cheetah
- Duiker
- Eland
- Elephant
- Giraffe
- Grysbok
- Hippopotamus
- Hyena (Spotted)
- Impala
- Jackal (Black-Backed)
- Klipspringer
- Kudu
- Leopards
- Lion
- Mongoose (Banded)
- Nyala
- Porcupine
- Rhino
- Roan Antelope
- Sable Antelope
- Smaller Carnivores
- Steenbok
- Tssessebe
- Vervet Monkey
- Warthog
- Waterbuck
- Wilderbeest (Blue)
- Wild Dog
- Zebra
Eland (Taurotragus oryx)
THE HERBIVORES AND OMNIVORES
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With a mass of about 650 kilograms - double that of kudu - these are by far the largest of the Park's ante lope. Thickset to a point of appearing overweight, they have a characteristic hump at the shoulder and a broad fold of skin dangling loosely below the neck. The body is covered with a short-haired yellowy brown or fawn coat, often with faint white vertical lines down the sides of the abdomen. Both sexes have moderate-sized horns, twisted into a spiral near the junction with the head. Females tend to have thinner and sometimes longer horns than males.
Of the roughly 600 of these animals, the great majority are found north of the Letaba river up to the Limpopo. A few scattered eland are known to live in the southern part, even as far south as Pretoriuskop, but are very rarely seen. Eland, which roam over very wide areas, prefer the open mopane plains or sandy woodlands, generally being found in groups of four or five, but occasionally merging to form large herds of more than 100. They are browsers and grazers, feeding on both leaves and grasses as the opportunity, or whim, arises.
The eland in the Park take flight at the first sight of cars, and their reluctance to remain near the tourist roads, combined with relatively low numbers, make them very difficult to see. The road from Shingwedzi to Pafuri, passing the Elandskuil and Mandadzidzi windmills offers the best chance to see these antelope.
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