Overview
The general color is a grayish roan, with the forehead black in both sexes. Roan from north-central Angola have been described as redder than other specimens.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Hippotragus
- Species
- Hippotragus equinus
Habitat
Found in woodland and grassland savanna. Distribution- Extreme southern Congo (B) near the mouth of the Congo River, southern Congo (K), Angola, Zambia, northern and central Malawi, far northern and northeastern Namibia including the Caprivi Strip, northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, parts of Northern Transvaal in South Africa, and western Tete Province in Mozambique. Roan also have been introduced on private ranches in other parts of Namibia and South Africa.
Diet
Primarily grazes.
Behavior
These animals stay close to stable water sources, and are not migratory. Female herds are accompanied by a lone territorial male, with different groups rarely overlapping. When males compete for females and territory, they do so while kneeling and clashing their horns together, pushing each other until dominance is established.
Hunting
Spot and stalk methods in areas with water atleast relatively close. Quality of the horns is much easier when judging the animal from a side view. They also prefer areas with few other herbivores and predators, and will avoid shorter grasses.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.