Photo taken by safari guide, Mark Homann
The Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) by Mark Homann, Professional Guide
The Sable Antelope is truly a spectacular creature, the smaller females are a chestnut to dark drown color while the males mature to a dark black off set by distinctive white under belly and facial markings. They stand 55 inches from the shoulder and weigh over 550 pounds. Their most striking physical feature is their sweeping horns that arch back and can be as long as 43 inches.
They are found in part of East Africa but the savanna woodlands of Southern Africa provide their preferred habitat (best place to see them is in the miombo woodlands of Southern Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia). The Sable is a selective grasser feeding on mid-length grasses. Found in breeding herds of up to thirty females and a single dominate mature male, young males leave this herd within three years, joining bachelor herds, young males raise in dominance though an impressive fighting displace as they drop to their front knees and duel with their horns. The dominant male in a bachelor herd will replace the resident male in a breeding herd. Calves are born after a nine-month gestation coinciding with the rainy season. The young sable is a chestnut color lying up in the grass for the first ten days of their lives.
Their main predators are lion, leopard and hyena (feeding mainly on young animals), but their impressive horns make them a formidable opponent and have been know to severely injure their adversaries.
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The rarely seen, but amazing sable antelope! Fab post!
Safari Tanzania,
Thanks so much! Sable antelope are truly beautiful to observe in the wild. It’s a treat to see them!
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