Nyala Lateral Display Keeps Rivals At Bay

The book, by Richard Despard Estes, was conceived for the benefit of visitors to African parks. On that level it serves as an essential field guide to those with more than a passing interest in African animals, but it's also sufficiently detailed to serve as a reference for students and behavioral scientists.

When visiting African game parks, one often sees animals acting in strange or inexplicable ways. It's easy to simply accept this as "animal behavior" - something we're not expected to understand. But a book like this makes game viewing much more rewarding and less of a mystery. Instead of thinking "mmm, odd behavior" and moving on, one can better understand what's happening now, possibly what happened before, and what's likely to happen next.

Dominance/Threat Displays

But no, it's actually one of the nyala's dominance/threat displays, that include "lateral presentation, stiff-legged approach and ground- and object-horning".

During this display, the nyala's hair fringe and dorsal crest "can increase its apparent surface area by up to 40%".

Nyala are also interesting in that adult bulls, in addition to carrying the superb lyre-shaped horns, are markedly different from females and juveniles in size, color, and overall appearance.

While females and young have a smooth coat that is bright chestnut with distinct stripes and spots, males have a shaggier coat that's more charcoal to slate in color with side stripes that are less contrasty.

The pictures below, of a female and young male, and an adult bull next to a female, illustrate this. Very different, yet exceptionally good-looking animals.