- Sable Antelope
Taxobox
name = Sable Antelope
status = LR/cd | status_system = IUCN2.3
trend = down
image_width = 270px
image_caption = Sable Bull (Kafue, Zambia)
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Artiodactyla
familia =Bovidae
subfamilia =Hippotraginae
genus = "Hippotragus "
species = "H. niger"
binomial = "Hippotragus niger"
binomial_authority = Harris,1838 The Sable Antelope ("Hippotragus niger") is an
antelope which inhabits wooded savannah inEast Africa south ofKenya , and inSouthern Africa .ubspecies
There are three
subspecies :
* "H. n. niger" which is considered low risk conservation dependent
* "H. n. varani" (Giant Sable Antelope ) of centralAngola which is classified ascritically endangered
* "H. n. kirkii" (Zambian Sable Antelope) of centralAngola and westernZambia and is classified as vulnerableDescription
The Sable Antelope stands 120 to 140 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh 200 to 270 kilograms, males being larger than females. Female Sable Antelope are chestnut to dark brown darkening as they mature while males are very distinctively black. Both sexes have a white underbelly, white cheeks and a white chin. They have a shaggy mane on the back of their neck. Sable antelope have ringed horns which arch backward, in females these can reach a meter, but in males they can reach over one and a half meters.
Ecology and behavior
Sable Antelope live in wooded savannah where they eat mid-length
grass andleaves . They are diurnal but are less active during the heat of the day. Sable Antelope form herds of ten to thirty females and calves led by a single male. Sable Antelope males will fight among themselves; they drop to their knees and use their horns.Miscellaneous
*The sable antelope was one of the national emblems of
Rhodesia (nowZimbabwe ).
*The sable antelope was also introduced intoTexas as game in private ranches.Gallery
References
*
External links
*ARKive - [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Hippotragus_niger/ images and movies of the sable antelope "(Hippotragus niger)"]
*Sable Behavior [http://wildlife-nature.com/sabletxt.htm]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.