to engage in aggressive fights, which, if they happen, last only for a brief period. Flehmen follows vulva-testing. Gestation lasts for eight to nine months, after which a single calf is born. In the Bale Mountains National Park, births occur throughout the year, but peak from September to November. Calves remain in cover for the first few weeks after birth. The calves remain close to their mothers for nearly two years. The young females may get pregnant by then. The young males, as they mature by two years, are challenged by other males and driven out of their herds. The lifespan of a mountain nyala is around 15 to 20 years. Habitat and distribution The typical habitat for the mountain nyala is composed of montane woodlands at an altitude of . The vegetation generally includes African juniper (Juniperus procera), Afrocarpus gracilior, and Olea at lower levels and Hagenia abyssinica, juniper, and Hypericum revolutum in the upper reaches. They often visit the edges of montane grasslands at , which is covered with Artemisia afra, Kniphofia, and evergreen Hypericum species. Nowadays the continuous blocks of woodland habitat have been reduced to a series of pockets, interspersed in large cultivated lands. Human settlement and large livestock population have forced the animal to occupy heath forests at an altitude of above rich in Erica arborea, Erica trimera, Hypericum, Euphorbia, and Helichrysum species. They may even be forced into afroalpine grasslands containing Alchemilla and Festuca species, at an altitude of up to . In the eastern borders of its range, the mountain nyala has usually been observed to occupy areas at lower altitudes of about . Mountain nyala are endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands east of the Rift Valley, between 6°N and 10°N. Their former range was from Mount Gara Muleta in the east to Shashamene and the northern Bale Zone to the south. Up to half of the total population of the mountain nyala occurs in the area of Gaysay, in the northern part of the Bale Mountains National Park. Smaller relict populations occur in Chercher, mountains such as Chilalo in Arsi Zone, and the western Bale. A study identified an area of on the southern escarpment of the Bale Mountains as the most sustainable habitat for the mountain nyala. Threats and conservation Major threats to the survival of the mountain nyala include illegal hunting, habitat destruction, encroachment by livestock, predation of calves by