- Related Topics:
- Hippotragus niger niger
sable antelope
-
What is a sable antelope?
The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) is an impressive African antelope known for its sturdy build, erect mane, thick neck, and powerful stature. Sable bulls are particularly striking, with glossy black coats contrasted by white underparts, rumps, throats, and facial markings, as well as scimitar-shaped horns. Females and young have chestnut to sorrel coats, though females south of the Zambezi River can also turn very dark.
Sable antelopes inhabit the southern savanna, from central Tanzania to South Africa, and favor the edges of wooded savanna and grassland. They graze and browse, feeding on grasses, forbs, and foliage during the rainy season and moving to grasslands in the dry season. They are also water-dependent and visit mineral licks for essential nutrients. Sable Antelopes are sociable and territorial, living in herds of up to 70 animals.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Where do sable antelopes live?
The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) is an impressive African antelope known for its compact, powerful build. These antelopes live in the southern savanna, ranging from central Tanzania to South Africa. They are often found in broad-leaved deciduous woodlands, favoring the ecotone between wooded savanna and grassland. Sable antelopes are water-dependent and visit pools and mineral licks daily during the dry season to supplement their diet with essential minerals.
4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What do sable antelopes look like?
The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) is a large, impressive African antelope known for its robust build, erect mane, thick neck, and sturdy stature.
Sable antelopes are sexually dimorphic; males have glossy black coats with white underparts, rumps, throats, and facial markings, as well as scimitar-shaped horns. Females and young sable are chestnut to sorrel, though females south of the Zambezi River can also turn very dark.
Sable antelopes are large, standing 117–140 cm (46–55 inches) tall. Males weigh about 235 kg (517 pounds), while females weigh approximately 220 kg (480 pounds). They are part of the horse antelope tribe Hippotragini.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What do sable antelopes eat?
Sable antelopes are grazers and browsers that live in the southern savanna of Africa. During the rainy season (September to April), they forage for grasses, forbs, and foliage of woodlands. In the dry season, they emerge onto grasslands, where they concentrate on flushes of green herbage after annual fires sweep the countryside. They also visit mineral licks to gain salt and trace elements that are in short supply in the African inland plateau's ancient, leached granitic soils.
Sable antelopes often favor the boundary zone between habitats. They prefer savanna woodland or the edges of open areas, and herds follow a more or less cyclic annual route over an area.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do sable antelopes protect themselves from predators?
Sable antelopes, living in herds of up to 70, face threats from predators such as lions, spotted hyenas, wild dogs, and leopards. Adult sable antelopes are large and formidable, but calves and yearlings are more vulnerable.
Living in herds provides a degree of protection, as social facilitation ensures that when one animal flees, the others follow, potentially confusing the predator. Though not specific to sable antelopes, many animals use alarm signals to communicate danger. These signals can be visual or vocal, and they often cross species boundaries, prompting a freeze-or-flight response.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why are sable antelopes important in their ecosystem?
The sable antelope is an important part of its ecosystem because it is both a grazer and browser. During the rainy season, it consumes grasses, forbs, and foliage from woodlands. In the dry season, the sable antelope moves to grasslands to feed on green herbage after fires. They also visit mineral licks to obtain salt and trace elements that are lacking in the soil of the African inland plateau.
Sable antelopes also influence their environment through grazing successions, contributing to maximum use of environmental resources. They are closely tied to the resources of their environment and are dependent on feeding areas not being covered by too much snow or shriveled under a drought, and on the regulating effects of fire or other herbivores on the seasonal succession of vegetation.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
sable antelope, (Hippotragus niger), one of Africa’s most impressive antelopes and a member of the horse antelope tribe Hippotragini (family Bovidae), so-called because of their compact, powerful build, erect mane, thick necks, and sturdy build.
Sable bulls, with their glossy black (sable) coats set off by white underparts, rump, throat, and facial markings and their great scimitar-shaped horns, are a favorite quarry of trophy hunters. Females and young are chestnut to sorrel in colour; these pronounced colour differences make the sable antelope one of the most sexually dimorphic species in the bovid family. However, south of the Zambezi River, females of the H. niger niger (“black black”) subspecies also turn very dark. The sable is a large antelope, standing 117–140 cm (46–55 inches) tall. Bulls weigh about 235 kg (517 pounds) and females about 220 kg (480 pounds).
The sable’s geographic range extends through the southern savanna from central Tanzania to South Africa. Closely associated with the broad-leaved deciduous woodlands called miombo, the sable is an “edge” species that favours the ecotone between wooded savanna and grassland. It is a grazer and a browser; during the rainy season (September to April), it forages the grasses, forbs, and foliage of woodlands, and in the dry season it emerges onto grasslands where it concentrates on flushes of green herbage after annual fires sweep the countryside. It is water-dependent and visits pools and pans daily in the dry season, as well as mineral licks to gain salt and trace elements that are in short supply in the ancient, leached granitic soils of the African inland plateau.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
The sable is a sociable and territorial antelope; herds of females and young numbering up to 70 animals (sometimes even in the hundreds in Zimbabwe) live in large home ranges of 10 to more than 50 square km (4 to more than 19 square miles). Among females, there is a dominance hierarchy based partly on seniority. Herds frequently break up into smaller units of variable composition and may remain separated for long intervals. Creches of young calves regularly lag behind adults and are often found alone. Females conceive as two-year-olds and calve after a nine-month gestation. Seasonal breeding comes at the beginning of the rainy season (September–October), calving at the end (May–June). Female offspring remain in the home range, but the darkening colour and large horns of subadult males cause territorial males to drive them out in their fourth year, if not sooner. Thereafter, the young males join a bachelor herd or live as lodgers on the property of territorial males until they mature at five and are ready to compete for a territory that may be as large as 10 square km (4 square miles).
Predators and prey both occur at relatively low density in miombo woodland. Apart from occasional lions, spotted hyenas, and wild dogs, the main predator of the sable is the leopard. Adult sable are generally too large and formidable for leopards, but calves and yearlings are vulnerable.