THE ROAN ANTELOPE 
HIPPOTRAGUS EQUINUS 
I THOUGH the roan antelope is a larger animal than its relative 
the sable, its horns are considerably shorter, and perhaps 
because of its shorter mane and the uniform red roan or grey- 
brown coloration of its body, it is certainly a far less striking 
animal than the latter. Still, the head of a roan antelope, with 
the sharply contrasted black-and-white markings of the face, 
the long, tufted ears and the heavy, well-ringed and often handsomely 
curved horns, will always cause this species to be much sought after by 
sportsmen. The range of the roan antelope is very wide, as, south of the 
Sahara, it is, or was once, found in almost every part of the African con- 
tinent, except in high mountain ranges and in the great equatorial forests. 
The species has been divided into various geographical races, which show 
certain superficial differences of no great importance. Some of the finest 
horns have been obtained on the White Nile, near Renk, one pair measuring 
thirty-seven inches over the curve. South of the Zambesi few heads 
exceeding thirty-four inches have been recorded, and I myself have 
never seen a pair which measured over thirty-three inches.* Except on the 
White Nile, perhaps, where they may average more, roan antelope horns 
measuring more than thirty inches over the curve may be looked upon as 
good specimens of their kind. 
It is quite impossible to lay down any general rules as to the character 
of the country in which roan antelopes are likely to be met with, as they 
are equally at home both on the open, treeless downs of some of the higher 
plateaux of Africa, and in the forested regions at a lower level. In South 
Africa, however, I never met with them in thick bush, nor in hilly country, 
and, to the best of my belief, they are entirely absent from the low country 
along the coast of South-East Africa, between the Pungwe and Zambesi 
Rivers, although it would seem to be entirely suitable to their require- 
ments. 
In the forested parts of what is now Southern Rhodesia, where I first met 
with roan antelopes some forty years ago, I always found them excessively 
tame. They would not only allow one to ride up very near them in the first 
*In Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game, a head obtained in the Tokwi Valley, Southern Rhodesia, by Mr R. C. 
Camp, is given as heading the list with a measurement of 39£ inches. This is now in the South African Museum. 
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