An inhabitant of dense thickets, forest, and open-thicket woodland mosaic, generally near water. Nyala feed selectively on both the leaves and fruits of woody plants as well as grasses; although they drink daily where water is available, in parts of their range in Mozambique and Zimbabwe they are found where no surface water is present for several months of the year (Anderson 2013).

The Nyala's natural range comprises south-eastern Africa from the Lower Shire Valley in Malawi through Mozambique and Zimbabwe to eastern South Africa and Swaziland. It has been introduced to Namibia on private land in the northern commercial farming districts. Likewise it does not occur naturally in Botswana, but some of the Tuli block farms in the east have been colonised as a result of the spread of Nyala from populations introduced to farms in the adjacent region of South Africa (East 1999, Anderson 2013). In Swaziland, the species was extinct by the 1950s, but it has been successfully reintroduced.

Over 80% of the estimated total population occurs in protected areas (East 1999). The major populations survive in South African protected areas in the KwaZulu-Natal Game Reserves of Ndumo, uMkuze and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi, and in Kruger N.P. (East 1999, Anderson 2013). Nyala also occur in substantial numbers on private land (10-15%) in South Africa, including extralimital areas (East 1999). Nyala respond well to protection, to the point where over-population can become a management problem. Efforts to rehabilitate Mozambique’s wildlife offer the prospect that the Nyala may recover its former abundance in areas such as Gorongosa and Banhine National Parks (East 1999).