Little is known about the thermoregulatory response of the eland, a tropical animal often raised in temperate climate. The surface temperature (Ts) of the eland with that of similarly sized Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle at three different ambient temperatures (Ta) were compared to get better evidence about thermal response. The Ts of all body areas (neck, dewlap, trunk, body forepart, barrel, body hind part, forelimb and rest limb) did not differ at Ta 29.2 deg. C, but at Ta 12.5 deg. C all the areas of the eland (except the neck) had lower mean Ts than those areas in cattle. At Ta 0.4 deg. C, only the eland dewlap had a lower Ts and the eland neck had a higher Ts than that in cattle.