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Eland Love

 


The mightiest antelope of them all is the sacred Eland; stately, stunning, and surprisingly hard to find in the South African bush. In fact, I have seen more Leopards, Lions, Rhinos, Cape Buffalo, Elephants, Cheetahs, and Wild Dogs (considered the Big 7), than I have seen Elands.


Elands are nomadic, so they never stay in one location for long; they are nocturnal, feeding primarily at night, and wicked shy of, well, anything that doesn’t look like them. One would think they’d be easy to spot because they are huge; in fact, males can weigh up to 2000lbs. And, get this, they can jump 8-10 feet from a stand. Astonishing!


What’s even more wonderful, “sort of,” about this animal is that it was the most sacred animal of the Khoisan people, the indigenous people of South Africa, and one of the oldest hunter-gatherer cultures on earth. Sadly, the Bantu tribes in the north migrated south. Then the colonists came, and between the two groups, they killed or displaced these ancient natives almost out of existence. 


The “sort of” in the above statement is because I’m not sure being sacred was in the best interest of Elands. Because the San people saw them as powerful, they decided that using the blood of these gentle creatures in many of their rituals was an amazing idea. So, despite their peaceful, shy nature, they have learned to stay far away from people over the millennia, maybe to keep themselves safe from being sacrificed when a girl gets her first period or a boy makes his first kill or a couple ties the knot.


Luckily, sacrifices are rare nowadays; otherwise, the magnificent Eland might only exist in the rock wall paintings of the Khoisan caves. 


But wait! ADDENDUM. I just discovered that farms raise Elands for meat and milk production. And have for years! Maybe yummier then eating cow meat. Ugh, I’m so naive. This information saddens me and makes me ponder whether or not these beauties were better off living in the era of the Khoisan. At least they were worshipped, and their sacrifice meant something. 


#mightyeland #sacredeland #khoisan #sacrifice #personalessay #writing #lastdaysinsouthafrica #rockwallpaintings #colonialism #bantutribes #eatingelands #iwanttoseeelands #elandlove

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