The eland herd in Gondwana Kalahari Park is growing steadily and has recently been boosted further. The park’s management bought four young bulls at a game auction in the vicinity of Mariental. They arrived at Kalahari Anib Lodge on 25 July and were first kept in a boma (enclosure screened from view), but after just one day they had already calmed down sufficiently to be released. They immediately headed for the red dunes of the Kalahari. By now they have joined the existing herd.
 
Elands were reintroduced into Gondwana Kalahari Park in 2008. The group of 14 antelope apparently felt so comfortable in their new surroundings that the herd has grown to 32 animals since then. The four young bulls are the latest addition and intended to safeguard genetic diversity.
   
The eland (Taurotragus oryx) is the largest antelope species, weighing in at between 500 and 1.000 kilograms. It reaches a length of two to three metres and a shoulder height of 1.5 metres on average. Only the male animals develop a dewlap, a longitudinal flap of skin which hangs from the lower jaw to the chest and contains fatty tissue. The rakish tuft of dense fur on the forehead is also typical of males. Both sexes have straight spiral horns. 

Usually these heavy ruminants are moving about at a leisurely pace, but if need be they can run at a speed of up to 70 km/h. They are excellent jumpers as well, which can be observed when despite their considerable mass they leap across a farm fence with amazing agility. They rest in the shade of trees or bushes during the hottest hours of the day and become active at dusk, just in time for the Sundowner Drives at Kalahari Anib Lodge. In a 100 square kilometre nature reserve there is no guarantee, however, that guests will indeed be able to see these animals which love the freedom of vast surroundings. Elands are browsers but occasionally they graze, too, and they dig for tubers and roots with their front hooves.

Other species released in Gondwana Kalahari Park during the past years are giraffe, plains zebra, blue wildebeest and hartebeest. Of course the park is also home to kudu, springbok, Oryx antelope and ostrich. The game programme for each of the Gondwana parks concentrates on animal species which used to roam that specific area before being hunted to extinction during the 19th century or driven away by farming during the 20th century.

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