Nilgai (Wildlife by CollectA)

Review and images by EpicRaptorMan; edited by bmathison1972

Behold, the nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), the largest Asian antelope native to much of India. This antelope is a bit of an oddity once described by Elizabeth Cary Mungall in her book “Exotic Animal Field Guide” as a “[…] combination of a horse and a cow with the beard of a turkey and short devil horns.” Which is a fairly accurate description. But if you don’t want to go to India to see a wild nilgai, just go to South Texas; they are quite common there! In 1924 a dozen nilgai were purchased from the San Diego Zoological Garden and were released on King Ranch for exotic hunting and conservation of native big game. From there throughout the 1920s and 1930s a couple more dozen nilgai were introduced. Since then, those populations have mushroomed out of control and by 2008 the population was estimated to consist of 37,000 individuals! The nilgai is now often seen as a pest as they destroy fences, decimate crops, compete with native species for food, and the spread of the deadly cattle fever tick. Despite all of this, the exotic nilgai are still popular for trophy hunting across the prairies of southernmost portions of Texas.

Earlier, I mentioned the nilgai’s size which is indeed impressive. Males are larger than females and can grow up to 5 ft (1.5 m) at the shoulder, lengths of 5.5–7 ft (1.6–2.1 m), and a maximum recorded weight of 679 lbs (308 kg) although most specimens are less hefty. Males possess horns and an entirely different coloration of a bluish grey as the name “nilgai” (or “blue bull”) suggests. It is pleasant to see big toy brands, like CollectA, give us the option to add this oddity to our collections and they did a fine job on this antelope, but admittedly the coat does appear too dark for most males. Other than that the white throat patch, horns, white spots around the hooves and face, the tufts of hair on the dewlap, the short mane, and even the white insides of the hind legs & underside of the tail are all accurate! I really admire CollectA’s nilgai attempt with all of its fur and muscle textures and I would not be opposed to them releasing a female (who are smaller and orangish-brown in color) to compliment this lone male.

As far as sizing goes, this figure stands at 3.6 in (9.1 cm) tall from hoof to horn and 4.5 in (11.4 cm) from nose to tail.

So what do we all think about this CollectA model (88764)? Has this obscure oddity piqued your interest enough to add it to your collection?