Portal:Zimbabwe/Featured national symbol/October 2007
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) is an antelope which inhabits wooded savannah in East Africa south of Kenya, and in Southern Africa. There are three subspecies:
- H. n. niger which is considered low risk conservation dependent
- H. n. varani (Giant Sable Antelope) of central Angola which is classified as critically endangered
- H. n. kirkii (Zambian Sable Antelope) of central Angola and western Zambia and is classified as vulnerable
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.
