Overview
Slightly smaller, lighter in color and with shorter horns than the common sable. Males vary from seal brown in the Shimba Hills to reddish black in the Selous and Kilombero. Females are a bright rufous.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Hippotragus
- Species
- Hippotragus niger
Habitat
Varied savannah grasslands and woodlands. Distribution- From the Shimba Hills near the southeastern coast of Kenya, southward discontinuously in coastal Tanzania east of longitude 38°E to the Selous Reserve in southern Tanzania; throughout the Selous Reserve; in the Kilombero Valley to the west of the Selous; and south and southeast of the Selous; and south to the Ruvuma River along the Tanzania - Mozambique border and a select part of Northern Mozambique in the Niasse Reserve. Sable specie below the Ruvuma River have shown evidence of hybridisation.
Diet
Both grazes and browses, based on seasonal availability.
Behavior
These animals are most active in the mornings and evenings, and are structured with territorial males and herds of about 10-30 animals, led by the dominant male. These antelope tend not to be as wary as many other antelope, stopping soon after being startled, but if significant pressure is applied to their habitats they adapt accordingly.
Hunting
Hunting will probably be limited to the Selous Reserve until the western and southern distribution limits are determined. The sable of the Selous have been hunted under a quota of about 70-80 a year, and this is expected to continue. All sable already in the SCI record book from the Selous, before the classifications were finalized, have been reclassified as Roosevelt sable.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN, however some subspecies have seen population decreases.