Common eland
Taurotragus oryx (Pallas, 1766)
Status not recordedmammals
The common eland (Taurotragus oryx), also called the eland, is a mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae and tribe Tragelaphini. It is a giant terrestrial herbivore with an adult body mass of 570 kg, and it is diurnal.
Quick facts about the common eland
Its lifespan is 25 years, with values up to 26.1 years reported by our sources.
- Weight
- 291.2 kg – 570 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Height
- 1.4 m – 1.6 msrc for Height
- Lifespan
- 25 years – 26.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- leavessrc for Main food
- Habitat
- grassland, woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 259 days – 289 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 18.8 months – 22.1 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.14src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the common eland?
Photos of the common eland
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the common eland live?
Not recorded
What is the common eland?
The common eland (Tragelaphus oryx), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a large savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. An adult male is around 1.6 m (5.2 ft) tall at the shoulder and can weigh up to 942 kg (2,077 lb) with a typical range of 500–600 kg (1,100–1,300 lb). Females are around 1.4 m (4.6 ft) tall and weigh 340–445 kg (750–981 lb). It was scientifically described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766.
Mainly a herbivore, its diet is primarily grasses and leaves. Common elands form herds of up to 500 animals, but are not territorial. The common eland prefers habitats with a wide variety of flowering plants such as savannah, woodlands, and open and montane grasslands; it avoids dense forests. It uses loud barks, visual and postural movements, and the flehmen response to communicate and warn others of danger. The common eland is used by humans for leather and meat, and has been domesticated in southern Africa. Eland milk contains more butterfat than cow's milk, and can be stored for up to eight months.
It is native to Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, but is no longer present in Burundi. While the common eland's population is decreasing, it is classified as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
From the Wikipedia article “Common eland” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_eland&oldid=1383915097), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the common eland endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the common eland classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusTaurotragus
- SpeciesTaurotragus oryx (Pallas, 1766)
Synonyms Antilope oryx, Tragelaphus oryx
Other names and names in other languages (2)
- ElandEnglish
- Elen-AntilopeGerman
Relatives of the common eland
Other species in the same genus Taurotragus.
Giant eland
Taurotragus derbianus
CompareCommon eland vs Giant eland
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common eland?
The common eland is a mammal in the family Bovidae and order Artiodactyla. It belongs to the subfamily Bovinae and the tribe Tragelaphini.
How heavy is the common eland?
The common eland has an adult body mass of 570 kg. It falls in the giant size class, meaning an adult body mass over 250 kg.
What does the common eland eat?
The common eland is a herbivore.
How long does the common eland live?
The common eland has a lifespan of 25 years, and our sources report values up to 26.1 years.
How long is the common eland's gestation period?
The gestation period of the common eland is 271 days, with reported values from 258.7 to 289.2 days.
How many young does the common eland have?
The common eland has 1 young per litter, with 1.14 litters per year.
When does the common eland reach sexual maturity?
The common eland reaches sexual maturity at 1.7 years (621.7 days), with reported values from 1.6 to 1.8 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common eland (Taurotragus oryx). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-eland
“Common eland (Taurotragus oryx).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-eland.
@misc{common_eland_2026,
title = {Common eland (Taurotragus oryx)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-eland},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}