Animal of the week: Sable antelope
Male sable antelope are characterised by glossy black coats with white under parts and white facial markings while females are brown.
THE sable antelope is the national animal of Zimbabwe.
Swartwitpens, the Afrikaans name, describes it as being vivid black with a white belly for males – females are brown in colour. Adults have a shoulder height of 1.4m and a maximum mass of 250kg and both sexes have horns.
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Shelter and water are important requirements as they are seldom found more than 3km from a water source. These antelope prefer open woodland near vleis or grassveld with medium tall grass, but avoid dense savanna and areas of short grass.
A territorial male establishes and defends his area with intimidating displays. Nursing herds with one or more dominant females move through these male territories; their numbers are usually from 10 to 30 animals.
Young males leave the nursing group at three years to join bachelor herds, remaining with them until they are five to six years old.
Sables graze mainly on grass in the early morning or late afternoons and will eat leaves at the end of the dry season. Their vocalisation is in snorts, bellows and sneezes.
The gestation period is eight months with the young born between January and March. The lifespan of sable antelopes is on average 17 years.
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