A Profile of the Mountain Nyala (Tragelaphus Buxtoni)

A profile of the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) Paul Evangelista, Paul Swartzinski, Robert Waltermire 1. Introduction included expeditions on Mt. Boset (near Munessa- Shashamane State Forest), the Mendabo Mountains, the The mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), a species of Galama Mountains (including Mt Kaka and Mt. Badda), antelope found only in Ethiopia, has the distinction of and Asbe Teferi (presumably what is now Kuni-Muktar being the last large ungulate discovered in Africa. After Wildlife Reserve). Brown was the first to conduct a its initial discovery in 1908 by Ivor Buxton, Richard mountain nyala survey of this scale, and his assessments Lydekker of the South Kensington Museum first resulted in the removal of the mountain nyala from the identified the species as a type of greater kudu IUCN’s list of endangered species from 1969 to 1975. (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) in an article called “The Since then, only a few scientific studies of the mountain Spotted Kudu” (Lydekker, 1910a). The skins and horns nyala have been conducted, mostly at Bale Mountains were sent to Rowland Ward in London, who informed National Park (BMNP) where a dense population can be Lydekker that the specimen was indeed a new species of easily observed near the Park’s headquarters and the antelope not yet documented by western science. adjacent Gaysay Valley (Hillman, 1985, 1986; Lydekker wrote several descriptive papers on the new Woldegebriel, 1996; Stephens et al., 2001). Although species (Lydekker, 1910a, b, 1912); however, the these studies in BMNP have been insightful in mountain nyala received little attention from the describing behavior and population dynamics of a few scientific community until Leslie Brown’s expedition to isolated populations, they have not acknowledged the Ethiopia in the early 1960s (Brown, 1963). Brown made full range of the species within the Park’s boundaries. several trips to Ethiopia, and his work is still considered Similarly, other estimates of the total population of the most detailed literature published on the mountain mountain nyala in Ethiopia have overlooked several nyala (Brown, 1963, 1966, 1969a). significant ranges, relying on speculation rather than in- For several decades, information on the mountain depth investigation (East, 1999; Malcolm & Evangelista, nyala’s biology, habitat, population, and distribution of 2004; Refera & Bekele, 2004). Since 2000, there have the population was largely gathered and reported by been several significant populations identified that have trophy hunters. Major Buxton’s mountain nyala yet to be reported or acknowledged by the scientific or specimens were taken in 1908 “south-east of Lake Zewei wildlife conservation communities. The situation has on the Arussi Plateau” presumably in the Galama resulted in a high degree of uncertainty in regard to the Mountains (Lydekker, 1910a). Other early hunting status of the mountain nyala, and inhibits the expeditions by M.C. Albright, G. Sanford and S. effectiveness of management plans and conservation Legendre and Major Maydon had also taken place in the strategies. Galama Mountains and were the first to report the In this paper, we attempt to clarify many of the occurrence of mountain nyala on Mt. Chilalo, Mt. Kaka, misconceptions surrounding the mountain nyala by Mt. Encuolu, and the Albasso Forest north-west of Ticho examining published scientific literature, unpublished (Sanford & Legendre, 1930; Wieland 1995). Prior to the reports, and interviews with numerous rural people and 1960s, these ridges and volcanic cones were believed to community leaders, wildlife and natural resource be the only places to harbor mountain nyala populations. managers, and government officials at all levels. This Rapid degradation of the Galama highlands, from information is supplemented with five years of research, burning and cultivation, was apparent, and in 1961 observations and data collection by the authors and Donald Carter recommended that the species be listed as research staff. Despite our efforts, we acknowledge that endangered by the International Union for the the scientific understanding of the mountain nyala, its’ Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (now habitat and the total population is still far from complete. called the IUCN; Brown, 1969a). However, we hope the information presented here will In response to the mountain nyala’s endangered improve wildlife management decisions, promote the status, Leslie Brown made two trips to Ethiopia in the formulation of wildlife policies, facilitate scientific 1960s in search of other potential populations yet to be research, and supplement conservation strategies. discovered (Brown, 1963, 1966, 1969a). His first trip was in 1963 through the Mendabo Mountains (now Suggested citation: considered to be part of the Bale Mountains) beginning Evangelista, P. Swartzinski and B. Waltermire. (2007). A in Dodola, traversing through the southern highlands, profile of the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni). and ending in Adaba. His second trip, in 1965 and 1966, African Indaba 5(2) – Special Report. 1 2. Biology number, the stronger the relationship. With the exception of the common nyala and lesser kudu, the results of the 2.1 Genealogy analysis illustrate that the species in the Tragelaphus genus can be divided into two significant groups (the The mountain nyala is a member of the Bovidae family, bongo, sitatunga and bushbuck; and the eland and Tragelaphinae subfamily, Tragelaphini tribe, and one of greater kudu) with the mountain nyala centrally placed nine species in the Tragelaphus genus, commonly between. A similar genealogy of spiral-horned antelopes known as the spiral-horned antelopes of Africa. This was more recently described by Kingdon (1997). genus also includes the bushbuck (T. scriptus), greater Although Kingdon’s analysis lacks the bootstrap index kudu (T. strepsiceros), lesser kudu (T. imberbis), eland to distinguish strength among relationships, its grouping (T. oryx), giant eland (T. derbianus), bongo (T. of members within the Tragelaphus genus is somewhat euryceros), sitatunga (T. spekei) and common nyala (T. similar to those found by the Smithsonian Laboratory of angasi). Although the fossil remains of several members Systematics. of the genus have been described (Gentry & Gentry, 1978), including those of T. nakuae found in the Omo Basin, Ethiopia, and East Turkana, Kenya (Turner & Anton, 2004), and T. pricei found in Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia (de Heinzelin et al.,1999), there is little evidence regarding the ancestry of Tragelaphus. Within the Tragelaphus genus, there has been much speculation about which species is the closest relative of the mountain nyala. At the time the mountain nyala was discovered, the current Tragelaphus genus was actually divided into two different genera: Tragelaphus (bushbuck and common nyala) and Strepsiceros (kudu). After careful consideration, Lydekker eventually determined that the new species shared a closer resemblance to the common nyala than to the kudu. However, the mountain nyala’s similarities to both genera further strengthened Lydekker’s argument that the two genera should be combined, and eventually the species belonging to Strepsiceros were added to Tragelaphus (Lydekker, 1910b, 1912). Several decades Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree of Tragelaphus species with bootstrap later, in 1932, the Berlin Zoo secured the only known index (Braun, M., 1998). pair of live, captive mountain nyala, and there was a lobby by several German zoologists to rename the 2.2 Physical Description mountain nyala the “medium kudu” because they believed it resembled the lesser and greater kudu more Mountain nyala vary between reddish brown to dark than it resembled the common nyala (Raethel, 1980). gray in color. Calves and females are tan to reddish The name change never occurred, but in 1980 a second brown (common at BMNP headquarters) or gray group of zoologists from the Berlin Zoo believed the (common in other forested habitats), while young males mountain nyala’s combination of stripe patterns and are generally gray and grow darker with age. Both sexes spots resembled a western race of sitatunga and again have distinct white patches on the throat and chest, suggested that a name change be considered (Raethel, distinctive white patterns on the inside of their legs and 1980). white on the underside of the tail (Figure 2). Mountain In 1998, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural nyala may have up to nine lateral white stripes on each History Laboratory of Molecular Systematics conducted side. Spots are often present on the flanks or in a linear a phylogenetic tree analysis (PTA) of the mountain nyala pattern running horizontally across the side or back, with from samples submitted by a hunter and compared the one to three spots commonly present on the face or cytochrome sequences of other Tragelaphus species cheek. Both stripes and spots are regularly present on acquired from Gen Bank (Braun, unpublished work, most animals but may be either obscure or absent. 1988; GenBank, 1998). The PTA uses a bootstrap Markings are generally unique for each animal with the support index from 0 to 100 to characterize the strength spot and stripe patterns differing on each flank of an of the ancestry between species (Figure 1); the higher the individual (Figure 3). Male mountain nyala have a distinct white chevron and a dorsal mane that runs the 2 length of their back, becoming obvious on calves at about five months old. Females have faint, narrow chevrons and

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