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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
sable
antelope |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Artiodactyla |
| FAMILY: |
Bovidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Hippotragus
(goat-like horse) niger (dark colored) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
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| MALE |
Male
sable antelopes are glossy black except for white
markings on their face and belly. They have a tufted
tail and a slight mane and long horns that strongly
curve backwards. |
| FEMALE |
Females
are reddish brown with smaller and less heavily
ridged horns than males. |
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| SIZE: |
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| MALE |
Shoulder
height about 1.5 m (4.95 ft.) |
| FEMALE |
Shoulder
height about 1.3 m (4.29 ft.) |
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| WEIGHT: |
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| MALE |
Approximately
235 kg (517 lb) |
| FEMALE |
Approximately
220 kg (484 lb) |
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| DIET: |
Grazers
- diet includes grasses, herbs, and foliage |
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| GESTATION: |
Gestation
lasts approximately 9 months |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
About
2.5 years |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Up
to 18 years |
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| RANGE: |
Southern
Kenya, eastern Tanzania, and Mozambique to Angola
and Southern Zaire (Miombo Woodland Zone) |
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| HABITAT: |
Inhabits
savanna woodlands and grasslands during the dry
season |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Unknown |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Lower
Risk/Conservation Dependent |
| CITES |
Species
not listed; subspecies H. n. variani is listed
as Appendix I |
| USFWS |
Species
not listed; subspecies H .n. variani is listed
as Endangered |
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| 1. |
Sable
congregate in herds of 15-20 individuals with matriarchal
social structure. Within the group, the more dominant
female is the leader. There is only one adult male
(called a bull) in each herd. The juvenile males
are exiled from the herd at about 3 years old. |
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| 2. |
All the female calves remain. When the herd gets
too large, it divides into smaller groups of cows
and their young. These groups will form new herds,
once again with only one adult bull. |
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| 3. |
The young males, which have been separated from
the herd, associate in "bachelor groups"
of up to 12 individuals. Among the bachelors, the
most dominant will be the first individual to join
a new group of females when the position is open.
Very seldom, during their fights for supremacy,
are they able to inflict bodily harm to the contender. |
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| 4. |
If
threatened by a predator, including lions, they
will confront it, using their scimitar-shaped horns.
Many of these big cats have died during such fights. |
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| 5. |
In
Ernest Hemingway's book, The Green Hills of Africa
he describes the habits of sable antelope, which
he used to hunt. |
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Despite their effectiveness, the sable's horns have
contributed to the sharp decline of the animal,
being a highly prized hunting trophy. In addition
to heavy hunting, numbers have been reduced severely
as part of regional Tse-tse fly control programs.
Their
grassland habitat is being reduced due to habitat
destruction for agricultural development. Antelope
are important to their habitats as grazers and
browsers. They are also important as prey for
carnivores.
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|
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Nowak,
R. M. Walker's Mammals of the World, Fifth
Ed. Vol. II, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1991.
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Parker, Sybil P. Grzimek's Encyclopedia: Mammals.
Vol. 5, New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company,
1990. |
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Spinage, C.A. The Natural History of Antelope.
New York: Facts on File Publications, 1986.
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| http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/sableant.htm |
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