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Roan
(Latin = Hippotragus eguinus , Afrikaans = Bastergemsbok, German = Pferdeantilope)

Numbers: Low

Weight > 227 – 272 kg

500 – 600 lb

Shoulder height> 140 cm

56 in.

Record Horn Length:

SCI > 31 and five eighths in.

Rowland Ward > 39 in.

Females horns? Yes

Found in the North-eastern parts of the Northern Province, especially the National Kruger Park, as well as in some distinct part of the North-West Province

This is close to the second largest antelope next to the eland, but it’s beaten by some of the biggest kudu. Very often, though, the “royal roan” is the heavier.

They keep in small herds and move over vast areas of tall grasslands or bushveld. It doesn’t bred most of it’s calves, because the red-brown calves are one of the more popular meals to the bigger cats, especially the lion. Adult males and females does defend themselves. They can even be very dangerous when they lack an escape route.

This animal shares the feature of backward-curling horns only with the sable antelope (it has, however, also been the case with the the extinct blue antelope). The roan is guilty of being a bit on the curious side, for it usually stops to look back after it has heard or smell the hunter and has run some hundred yards through the bush. Of course, this presents the hunter with a grand chance for his trophy ambitions! Because of this “weakness”, the majestic roan isn’t found abundandly anywhere in the bush anymore.