Roan antelope are usually met with in small herds of from six to a dozen members, and never congregate in large numbers. I do not think I have ever counted as many as thirty together. I have found them fairly common in certain districts, but nowhere very plentiful. They frequent open plains and thinly forested country, and are never found far away from water. Bucks often become savage when wounded, and will sometimes charge viciously if approached incautiously. They can use their horns with great dexterity, and play havoc with a pack of dogs.
Photo by S. G. Payne, Aylesbury, by permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild.
SABLE ANTELOPE.
A near ally of the Roan Antelope, from which it is broadly distinguished by its striking coloration—black and white.
The Sable Antelope, though considerably smaller than the roan, is yet a handsomer animal. In colour the adult male, when in high condition, is jet-black all over with the exception of the white face-markings and the snow-white of the belly and insides of the thighs. The mane is longer and more bushy than in the roan antelope, and often hangs down on either side over the withers. The horns, too, are much finer, and, sweeping backwards in a bold curve, are commonly upwards of 42 inches long, and have been known to reach 50 inches. The striking colour, large size, and horns of this creature make it one of the most-prized trophies of the sportsman. The skin, when prepared and laid down as a rug in halls or dwelling-rooms, is far more handsome than that of any deer. The female of this species is usually of a rich red-brown in colour instead of black as in the male. South of the Zambesi, however, old cows become almost absolutely black. North of the Zambesi both male and female sable antelopes are dark red in colour rather than black. The horns in the female are slighter and less curved than in the male, and are also considerably shorter, as a rule not measuring over 30 inches in length.
The range of the sable antelope extends from the northern districts of the Transvaal to German East Africa. In the country between the Limpopo and the Central Zambesi it used to be a very common animal, especially in the northern districts of Mashonaland. It is partial to open forests intersected by grassy, well-watered glades, and is never found on open plains entirely devoid of bush. It is usually met with in herds of from twelve to twenty individuals, but I have often seen as many as fifty, and once counted between seventy and eighty together. However large a herd of sable antelopes may be, it is very exceptional to find with it more than one fully adult male, from which fact I should judge that these animals are of a very jealous and pugnacious disposition. When wounded and brought to bay by dogs, a sable antelope defends itself with the utmost fury, using its long scimitar-shaped horns with most wonderful quickness and dexterity. If badly wounded it will lie down, otherwise it fights standing. Keeping its face to some of its foes, with a sideways twist of its head it will transfix and throw into the air any dog which attempts to attack it from behind. I have seen a wounded sable antelope, when lying down, drive one of its horns clean through a large dog deep into its own haunch, and I have had four valuable hounds killed and four others grievously wounded by one of these animals in less than a minute. I once knew a native hunter who was stabbed through the kidneys and killed by a sable antelope cow.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford] [Woburn Abbey.
ROAN ANTELOPE.