Roan Antelope

Roan Antelope
Female with young
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Hippotraginae
Genus:	Hippotragus
Species:	H. equinus
Binomial name
Hippotragus equinus Desmarest, 1804

The Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus) is a savanna antelope found in West, Central, East Africa and Southern Africa.

Roan Antelope stand about a metre and half at the shoulder and weigh around 250 kilograms. Named for the "roan' colour (a reddish brown), they have a lighter underbelly, white eyebrows and cheeks and a black face, lighter in females. There is a short erect mane, a very light beard and prominent red nostrils. The horns are ringed and can reach a metre long in males, slightly shorter in females. They arch backwards slightly.

They are similar in appearance to Sable Antelope and can be confused where their ranges overlap. Sable Antelope males are darker, being black rather than dark brown.

Roan Antelope are found in woodland and grassland savanna mainly in the Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, which range in tree density from forest with a grassy understorey (such as Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands) to grasslands dotted with few trees, where they eat mid-length grass. They form harem groups of five to fifteen animals with a dominant male. Roan Antelope commonly fight among themselves for dominance of their herd, brandishing their horns while both animals are on their knees.