Roan

Name

Roan Antelope [Hippotragus equines]

Appearance

Roan’s have a general fawn coat colour with their lower parts being dark brown to black. It has very distinctive black facial markings that are a characteristic of these animals. They have long pointed ears with both species having long scimitar like horns. Bulls weigh 270kg while he females weigh210. The bull can stand up to1.5m at the shoulder.

Diet

Roan are grazers by nature and prefer to chop top portions of grass and eat herbaceous plants. They prefer medium to long grass found in the savannah.

Breeding

These antelope are non seasonal breeders with calves born after a gestation of 40 weeks. The calf is hidden from the world for the first month of life, after which they join herd creches. Roan calves have a very high mortality rate of up to 80%. Ron antelope are considered an endangered species.

Behaviour

These antelope are semi gregarious as the females and their calves form the main herd. There is only a single bull in each group as bachelors form their own groups. There is a hierarchy in Roan herds with a dominant cow being the matriarch. Roan antelopes are active early in the mornings. The Roan antelope is semi common animal that can be found during a Kruger Park Safari.