Hunting Portal
Namibia

  
 Characteristics:
Shoulder height 110 - 140 cm, weight / mass up to 250 kg. The Sable Antelope is not unsimilar to a dry black horse stallion. The old bull with his deep black colouring distinguishes clearly from that one bright- to dark brown cows, which are also smaller in weight and mass and have smaller horns.

Colouring:
In the adolescence bright- to dark brown, the hide increases darker up to pitch-black in the age, especially with the old bull that adorns in addition also a black neck mane. The part around the ears is more brownish, during the abdominal hide and the under part of the tail are white.

Habitat:
Sable Antelopes love thick woodlands with scattered grass and bush stocks. Severely they avoid open grass landscapes and steppes. While they are strongly water-dependent, they stay mostly in their proximity.

Occurrence:
Only in Namibia's utmost northeast (Caprivi). They are also available on some game ranches in Namibia.

Main food:
Bunch grasses and herbs as well as young leaves of trees and shrubs. Sable Antelopes are water-dependent and scoop daily, in this case they move away rarely far of the water hole to the grazing.

Rutting season / gestation period:
The rutting season is in the months May - July. After approx. 8 months of gestation period one calf is calved.

Life expectancy:
About 18 years.

Horns:
Bull and cow carry horns. A good bull has big curved black horns with the tips clearly pointing backwards and slightly downwards. The horns of the cow are swung weaker and the tips show mostly up and only a little to the back. The horn length of the bull is up to 150 cm / 59 inch. 

Habits:
Since Sable Antelope are very dependent on water, it is rewarding to look for them in the vicinity of waterholes. There you either have a sighting or find fresh spoor. In the case of bachelor groups with bulls of different ages, you should concentrate on a very black specimen, because these are the oldest animals. In mixed groups (bull, cows and calves) the main bulls are huntable and in the best age, nevertheless the stronger bulls with better trophies stay mostly beside the groups. Driven into the narrowness, Sable Antelope are extremely valiant and attack rapidly and wildly. The confrontation with a wounding Sable Antelope is always dangerous. Before you fire a shot, you must now the strange behaviour of the Sable Antelope, because often the carry out abrupt movements and direction changes.