The Gemsbok is a large antelope of striking appearance with long, spearlike horns. It has a thick, horselike neck with a short mane and a compact, muscular body. A defined pattern of black markings that contrast with the white face and fawn-colored body are prominently displayed in dominance rituals to emphasize the length of horns and strength of the shoulder.
In spite of its heavy physique, eland are remarkably agile and large bulls can easily jump over regular fences. They have a slight hump at the shoulders and prominent dewlap. The heavy horns of both sexes slant backwards and lengths of as much as one metre have been recorded. Females are much smaller, weighing about 450 kilograms. Males have a patch of dark hair on their foreheads that covers glandular skin. Both males and females have fawn coloured coats. They also have faint vertical white stripes on their flanks, which are distinctive to the eland.
A black panther is the melanistic color variant of any big cat species. Black panthers in Asia and Africa are leopards, and those in the Americas are black jaguars. Melanism is relatively common in leopards, with melanistic individuals making up approximately 11% of the species, occurring at very different rates in different subspecies with non-random distribution.
