I doubt they come from European stock since it's never been too plentiful.
If I had to guess, I'd say they came from some private reserve/game farm in Namibia (Which would have still been part of South Africa when San-Diego got them.)
A shame this species isn't doing too great in captivity, I've been privileged enough to see them both wild and captive.
@Nix that is what I was assuming myself. I remember in the late 1990s or early 2000s, the Zoological Society of San Diego imported Cape steenbok (Raphicerus campestris campestris) straight from Southern Africa.
@UngulateNerd92 smaller native mammals, like steenbok, grysbok, duikers, and even oribi have always been readily available in the South Private trade.
Other than that South Africa is packed with Game farms (similar to the ones in Texas) So most species of game found in the country can very easily be required, from rhinos to buffalo.
Even some odd non-native sub-species have been introduced and made available on the market, such as Zambian Sable (H. n kirkii), and Livingstone's Eland (T. o livingstonei).
@Nix ah very interesting. I am familiar with the game farms in South Africa that you are referring to. San Diego Zoo did used to keep Oribi, Crowned duiker, and Zambian sable antelope as well. I actually remember seeing the former two on my childhood visits. I believe @Giant Eland actually photohraphed all three at the Zoological Society of San Diego Parks. Crowned duiker and Zambian sable antelope at the zoo and Oribi at the Wild Animal Park, I believe.
@Nix pardon another digression, but when the Zoological Society of San Diego imported their Zambian sable antelopes, they initially intended to import Giant sable antelope and thought they were getting Giant sable, but those animals turned out to be Zambian sable antelope. Still a neat addition to their collection and not something that I believe was present in the United States at the time. Other than Zambian sable antelopes, the ZSSD Parks have also kept Roosevelt sable antelopes and the nominate species (which I believe are still kept at the Wild Animal Park).
Have any major zoos in South Africa (ie Pretoria or Johannesburg) kept Zambian sable antelope or Livingstone's eland, or the only game farms? I know Johannesburg Zoo kept Oribi in the past, but did they ever keep Grysbok?
Also back to the original topic of Giant elands, where did stock in South African zoos come from? and were those animals belonging to the Eastern or Western subspecies?
@UngulateNerd92 Unfortunately only game farms keep Zambian Sables and Livingstone Eland. It's not terribly difficult to spot them here though, as they can usually be easily spotted on game farms that border the highways.
I'm not aware of Joburg ever keeping any Grysbok species, but Pretoria did have unspecified grysbok in the 60s.
In regards to the Giant Eland, Joburg kept the Eastern subspecies, which were imported by Pretoria Zoo from Plackendael in 1980, Sometime in the early 2000s, the herd, which had thinned out a bit since the multitude of calves born in the 90s, were moved to Joburg Zoo where the last one died in 2015 I believe.
@Nix ah ok, thank you for this information. Where did you learn about Pretoria Zoo's unspecified grysbok? I had a feeling that the Giant eland in Pretoria came from the Eastern subspecies ssp. gigas I didn't realize that they came from Planckendael, but I can't say that I am surprised. I am sorry that the herd died out. Have any other South African zoos or even game farms kept Giant eland or only Johannesburg?
@UngulateNerd92 The info about the grysbok comes from the 1963 National Zoo Guidebook.
This book shows an immense and impressive ungulate collection that Pretoria had at this time, I could DM the list to you if you'd like.
Because Giant Eland is such impressive animals they are often sought for trophy hunting, because hunting is so popular in South Africa several people have shown interest in importing Giant Eland.
In 2014 a rancher arranged to import 120 animals from Cameroon, unfortunately, I do not know if this ever went through since I can't find any information on this other than the following article. (Fair warning, the article does contain images of a shot eland)
