The name angasii is attributed to Angas, who said that John Edward Gray had named this species after Angas' father, George Fife Angas of South Australia. The scientific name of nyala is Tragelaphus angasii. The nyala was first described by George French Angas, an English naturalist, in 1849. Phylogenetic relationships of the mountain nyala from combined analysis of all molecular data (Willows-Munro et.al. The males are highly prized as game animals in Africa.

The principal threats to the species are poaching and habitat loss resulting from human settlement. Its population is stable, and it has been listed as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has been introduced to Botswana and Namibia, and reintroduced to Eswatini, where it had been extinct since the 1950s. The nyala's range includes Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. After a gestational period of seven months, a single calf is born. Males and females are sexually mature at 18 and 11–12 months of age respectively, though they are socially immature until five years old. The main predators of the nyala are lion, leopard and African wild dog, while baboons and raptorial birds prey on juveniles. They inhabit thickets within dense and dry savanna woodlands. They live in single-sex or mixed family groups of up to 10 individuals, but old males live alone. The nyala does not show signs of territoriality, and individuals' areas can overlap. A shy animal, it prefers water holes rather than open spaces. As a herbivore, the nyala feeds upon foliage, fruits and grasses, and requires sufficient fresh water. It generally browses during the day if temperatures are 20–30 ☌ (68–86 ☏) and during the night in the rainy season. The nyala is mainly active in the early morning and the late afternoon. It is not to be confused with the endangered mountain nyala living in the Bale region of Ethiopia). It exhibits the highest sexual dimorphism among the spiral-horned antelopes. Only males have horns, 60–83 cm (24–33 in) long and yellow-tipped. Females and young males have ten or more white stripes on their sides. The coat is maroon or rufous brown in females and juveniles, but grows a dark brown or slate grey, often tinged with blue, in adult males. It was first described in 1849 by George French Angas. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus Tragelaphus, previously placed in genus Nyala. The lowland nyala or simply nyala ( Tragelaphus angasii), is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa.

Spiral antler