The eland is the largest of the African antelope, with adult males standing about 1.7m at the shoulder and a mass of approximately 700kg.
Females are considerably smaller and lighter.
Both sexes carry the horns, those of the male being much heavier. The colour of the coat varies between the northern and southern populations and there is a wide zone of intergradation. The northern eland are a rufous-fawn colour and have stripes, whereas the southern eland are a dull tan and have no stripes. They are widely distributed in Africa south of Uganda and Kenya, being replaced north of this by the giant eland, T. derbianus. They were, at one time, common in the southern African subregion, but human development reduced their range considerably.