ORDER ARTIODACTYLA I EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 703 



In Southern Rhodesia "this animal is widely but scarcely distrib- 

 uted, frequenting similar haunts to the Sable, but in far less 

 numbers. They enjoy complete protection outside the tsetse fly 

 areas and are not in any great danger of extermination. Their 

 numbers have remained more or less constant during the past few 

 years, even though a considerable number has been destroyed in 

 the tsetse fly campaign. Legally considered as 'Royal Game.' ' 

 (Game Warden, Wankie Game Reserve, in litt., March, 1937.) 



"Roan are exceedingly common in parts of Nyasaland and N. E. 

 Rhodesia" (Lyell, quoted in Shortridge, 1934, p. 570) . 



"I have encountered roan antelopes everywhere; from the Kafue 

 to the Zambesi in Northern Rhodesia and from Shamva [Southern 

 Rhodesia] to Tete [Portuguese East Africa] and on up to Chiputo 

 they were to be found everywhere. I have never seen a large herd, 

 seventeen is the maximum, but they are numerous nevertheless." 

 (Hubbard, 1926, p. 190.) 



The number of these animals in Northern Rhodesia (excluding 

 Barotse) is estimated at 60,000. It "must be one of the commonest 

 of the larger antelopes. Its shy retiring habits, and its tendency to 

 keep always on the move, can only be the result of constant moles- 

 tation." Many were "noted along the Luangwa bank. The abun- 

 dance of skins seen in villages is some indication of the extent to 

 which this species not on the Native Licence is being poached." 

 (Pitman, 1934, pp. 331, 344, 378.) 



In the Belgian Congo the Roan frequents the forest' of Katanga. 

 It abounded on the Bianos and the Kundelungus Mountains in 1912 : 

 we could not traverse the Bianos without seeing constantly around 

 us a dozen and sometimes several dozens of Roans, Hartebeests, 

 and Zebras. The slaughter of big game by the hunters for the con- 

 structors of the Bukama railway depopulated these fine hunting 

 areas. (Leplae, 1925, p. 93.) 



The Roan used to occur in enormous numbers throughout the 

 south of the Belgian Congo from its southern frontier to latitude 

 3 S., except in the forest zones in the north of the Kasai and Kwango 

 districts. Even 15 years ago it was one of the animals most fre- 

 quently met with. In the south of Kwango, in the Kasai, in the 

 country between the Kasai and the Lulua, in the stock-raising zones 

 of the Lualaba and Lomami districts, one may travel or hunt for 

 entire days without discovering a single Roan. In the north of 

 Lomami and in the Tanganyika district, except on the banks of the 

 Lualaba where they have been exterminated, they are found more 

 frequently without approaching the abundance of a few years 

 previously. They have also become localized in Maniema, in what 

 is now the unguarded game reserve of the Luama. In the lower 

 Congo this fine animal has long since been exterminated by the 



