Conservation and IUCN status of Of The Roan Antelope

1. Roan Antelope
Hippotragus equinus
Mthabisi and Vimbai

2. Taxonomy
• Kingdom Animalia
• Phylum Chordata
• Class Mammalia
• Order Cetartiodactyla
• Family Bovidae
• The International Union for
Conservation of Nature
(IUCN)IUCN Red List Category
Least Concern

3. Geographic Range
• The Roan Antelope formerly occurred very widely in the
savannah woodlands and grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa,
the species remains locally common in West and Central
Africa, while in East and southern Africa the species is now
very rare.
• The species is now locally extinct in Burundi, Eritrea and
possibly Gambia.
• It was also eliminated from Swaziland and later reintroduced
to the privately owned Mkhaya Nature Reserve

4. Country Occurrence
• Native: Angola (Angola); Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Cameroon;
Central African Republic; Chad;
• Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Ethiopia;
Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya;
• Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria;
Rwanda; Senegal; South Africa; South
• Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Uganda; Zambia;
Zimbabwe

6. Population
• summation of the available population estimates suggests a total
population of about of 76,000 Roan,
• with the largest populations in Burkina Faso (>7,370), Cameroon
(>6,070), Zambia (>5,080) and Tanzania (>4,310).
• However, large numbers are also believed to survive in southern
Sudan. Despite the fact that Roan are generally common in West and
Central Africa,
• some populations are in decline, such as that in Comoé N.P (Côte
d’Ivoire) where numbers have declined by about 70% between 1978
and 1998 to around 500 animals

7. Population Analysis
• population trend is generally stable or decreasing in protected areas
and decreasing elsewhere, apart from the small numbers on private
land in southern Africa which are increasing.
• Current Population Trend: Decreasing

8. Habitat and Ecology
• Savannah woodlands and grasslands, and the bushveld and lowveld
of southern Africa,
• Favor cover of high grasses and woody plants playing an important
role for both grazing and calving
• A water-dependent Herbivore (grazer/browser)
• Systems: Terrestrial
• They prefer open or lightly wooded grassland, with medium to tall
grass,
• Predators: Hyenas, leopards, wild dogs, humans

9. Conservation Actions
• At present, about one-third of the species’ total population occurs in
protected areas.
• The largest surviving populations occur in areas such as Niokolo-Koba
(Senegal), Comoe (Côte d'Ivoire), Arly-Singou and Nazinga (Burkina
Faso), Mole (Ghana), Pendjari (Benin), Waza National Park and the
national parks and hunting zones of North Province (Cameroon),
Manovo-Gounda-St. Floris (Central African Republic), Moyowosi-
Kigosi and Katavi-Rukwa (Tanzania), the Luangwa Valley (Zambia),
Nyika National Park (Malawi) and northern Botswana. Most of these
populations are stable or increasing but some, e.g., in Comoe, Arly-
Singou and Cameroon’s North Province, are in decline.

10. Challenges
• The roan antelope is losing its living spaces.
• It has been eliminated from parts of its former range due to
habitat loss resulting from human activity, such as
agricultural expansion and new road and settlement
construction.
• Poaching is also taking its toll on the roan antelope.
• Hunting outside of protected areas is persistent.
• Gestation is approximately 9 months