The roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) is found in portions of west, central, east and southern Africa. Only elands, bongos and male kudu can exceed them in weight.
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Roan distribution chart from Wikipedia. |
It is named for its roan color, a reddish brown. It has a grayish/brown, short and erect mane that goes from the back of the neck to the rump. It has a black face with white patches around the eyes and mouth. It has a dark tail terminating in a black tuft. It has ringed horns that arch slightly backwards, a little shorter in females.
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From this angle, the roan has a clownish face. |
There are six subspecies. We saw the nominate subspecies (H. e. equinis) which is found in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique. We were in Hwange NP in Zimbabwe and I spotted it in a field off to our right: one of the few times I spotted an animal before our guide did. I recognized it as a roan, but only because I'd been looking at a picture of one in my book on Southern African Wildlife the night before. Our guide mentioned they were only rarely seen and he had not seen one in a long time.
The guide was quite impressed by both the fact that you spotted it first AND that you knew instantly what it was.
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