Editing Common eland (section)

{{Short description|Second largest antelope in the world}}
{{Redirect|Eland antelope|''Taurotragus derbianus''|Giant eland}}
{{Good article}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Common eland
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="IUCN">{{cite iucn |author1=IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group |year=2016 |title=''Tragelaphus oryx'' |volume=2016 |errata=2017 |page=e.T22055A115166135 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22055A50196938.en |access-date=15 September 2024}}</ref>
| image = Taurotragus oryx - young bull - Etosha 2015.jpg
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = * ''T. o. livingstonii''
* ''T. o. oryx''
* ''T. o. pattersonianus''
| taxon = Taurotragus oryx
| authority = ([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1766)
| synonyms = {{collapsible list|title=<small>Species synonymy</small><ref name=wilson/>
|''Tragelaphus oryx'' <small>(Pallas, 1766)</small>
|''Taurotragus alces'' <small>([[Lorenz Oken|Oken]], 1816)</small>
|''Taurotragus canna'' <small>(C. H. Smith, 1827)</small>
|''Taurotragus barbatus'' <small>(Kerr, 1792)</small>
|''Taurotragus oreas'' <small>(Pallas, 1777)</small>
|''Taurotragus typicus'' <small>Selous, 1899</small>
|''Taurotragus livingstonei'' <small>([[Philip Sclater|P. L. Sclater]], 1864)</small>
|''Taurotragus billingae'' <small>Kershaw, 1923</small>
|''Taurotragus kaufmanni'' <small>([[Paul Matschie|Matschie]], 1912)</small>
|''Taurotragus niediecki'' <small>(Matschie, 1913)</small>
|''Taurotragus selousi'' <small>[[Richard Lydekker|Lydekker]], 1910</small>
|''Taurotragus triangularis'' <small>(Günther, 1889)</small>
|''Taurotragus pattersonianus'' <small>Lydekker, 1906</small>
}}
| range_map = Common eland.png
| range_map_caption = Common eland range
}}
[[File:Taurotragus oryx.jpg|thumb|Two common elands drinking in a Chudop waterhole, Etosha National Park, Namibia]]
The '''common eland''' ('''''Taurotragus oryx'''''), also known as the '''southern eland''' or '''eland antelope''', is a large [[savanna]]h and [[plain]]s [[antelope]] found in [[East Africa|East]] and [[Southern Africa]]. An adult male is around {{cvt|1.6|m|ft}} tall at the shoulder and can weigh up to {{cvt|942|kg|lb}} with a typical range of {{cvt|500|–|600|kg|lb}}. Females are around {{cvt|1.4|m|ft}} tall and weigh {{cvt|340|–|445|kg|lb}}. It is the second-largest antelope in the world, being slightly smaller on average than the [[giant eland]].<ref name=Pappas>{{cite journal | url = http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/689_Taurotragus_oryx.pdf | last = Pappas | first = LA | author2 = Elaine Anderson | author3 = Lui Marnelli | author4 = Virginia Hayssen | date = 5 July 2002 | journal = [[Mammalian Species]] | pages = 1–5 | title = Taurotragus oryx | volume = 689 | doi = 10.1644/1545-1410(2002)689<0001:TO>2.0.CO;2 | s2cid = 198968884 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111223133831/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/689_Taurotragus_oryx.pdf | archive-date = 23 December 2011 }}</ref> 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 [[Territory (animal)|territorial]]. The common eland prefers [[habitat]]s with a wide variety of [[flowering plant]]s such as savannah, [[woodland]]s, and open and [[Montane ecology|montane]] [[grassland]]s; it avoids dense [[forest]]s. It uses loud barks, visual and postural movements, and the [[flehmen response]] to [[Animal communication|communicate]] and warn others of danger. The common eland is used by humans for [[leather]], and meat and has been [[domestication|domesticated]] in southern Africa. Eland milk contains more [[butterfat]] than cow's milk, and can keep longer without [[pasteurising]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

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]].