Roan Antelope

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Roan Antelope

Young Roan Antelope (Ndevu, Zambia)

Conservation dependent (LR/cd)

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 grassland 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. Roan Antelope are a roan colour with 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.

Roan Antelope are found in grasslands 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.

[edit] References

Antelope Specialist Group (1996). Hippotragus equinus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006.