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sable antelope

 
Dictionary: sable antelope
 

n.

A large African antelope (Hippotragus niger) having backward-curving horns and a usually dark coat.


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Hippotragus niger

TAXONOMY

Aigocerus niger (Harris, 1838), near Pretoria, South Africa.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Hippotrague noir; German: Rappenantilope; Spanish: Antilope sable.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Body length 6.3–8.5 ft (190–255 cm); shoulder height 3.9–4.7 ft (117–143 cm); tail 1.3–2.5 ft (40–75 cm); 420–660 lb (190–300 kg), female smaller than male. Horns 2.6–5.5 ft (80–165 cm) in males, 2–3.3 ft (60–100 cm) in females.

DISTRIBUTION

H. n. roosevelti: extreme southeastern Kenya through Tanzania;H. n. kirkii: Zambia, presumably eastern Angola and southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, also probably Malawi and Mozambique; H. n. niger: southwestern Zambia, north and northeast Botswana, Zimbabwe, and extreme northeastern South Africa, limits not clear; H. n. variani (giant sable): Angola, between Cuanza and Loando rivers.

HABITAT

Dry open woodlands and medium-tall grass savannas.

BEHAVIOR

Herds of up to 30 females and young have home range 59–198 acres (24–80 ha). Herds of 200–300 recorded in dry season. Bulls hold territories of 62–99 acres (25–40 ha).

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Eats grasses; during the dry season will also browse on herbs, bushes, and trees. Drinks at least once a day.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Polygynous. Breeding seasonal, births occurring during rains. Gestation period about nine months; weaning at eight months; sexually mature at 2–3 years. Lifespan 17 years.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Race variani is Critically Endangered: only about 1,000 remain, and their future is unpredictable; none are held in captivity. The other races are Lower Risk/Conservation Dependent. The wild population was believed stable at around 54,000 individuals in 1998, 75% of these in protected natural habitat.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Valued as a trophy species, also hunted for meat.

 
WordNet: sable antelope
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: large black east African antelope with sharp back-curving horns
  Synonym: Hippotragus niger


 
Wikipedia: Sable Antelope
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Sable Antelope
Sable Bull (Kafue, Zambia)
Sable Bull (Kafue, Zambia)
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Hippotraginae
Genus: Hippotragus
Species: H. niger
Binomial name
Hippotragus niger
Harris, 1838

The Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) is an antelope which inhabits wooded savannah in East Africa south of Kenya, and in Southern Africa.

Contents

Subspecies

There are three subspecies:

Description

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 and leaves. 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.

It may construct a small bed made of grasses, although it usaully sleeps in the open.

Miscellaneous

  • The sable antelope was one of the national emblems of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
  • The sable antelope was also introduced into Texas as game in private ranches.

Gallery

References

  1. ^ IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). Hippotragus niger. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2008. Retrieved on November 2008.Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of Least concern.

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Animal Encyclopedia. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sable Antelope" Read more