An antelope with backward-curving horns and a mane along the neck.
Both sexes have horns that sweep backward. Adult males turn black, while female coat color varies geographically.
Researchers tracked four sable antelope herds with GPS/GSM collars in the Pretorius Kop region of Kruger National Park, South Africa, for two years, from the early dry season to the start of the rains. Four grasses were consistently well accepted and made up substantial parts of each herd’s diet: Panicum maximum, Heteropogon contortus, Hyperthelia dissoluta and Setaria sphacelata. During the dry season, sable antelope ate more P. maximum and H. dissoluta in places where those grasses were abundant.
Across grass species, they were more likely to feed from tufts greener than the seasonal average and taller than 20 cm. Foraging areas were mostly on upper slopes, and the herds did not increase their use of low-lying ground in the dry season. In this Kruger study, changing the mix of grasses helped sable antelope find suitable forage across seasons.
IUCN Red List (IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group) · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The 2017 IUCN global assessment classifies the sable antelope as Least Concern (LC). A 2025 regional assessment for South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho lists it as Vulnerable (D1), with 664–775 mature individuals estimated. The regional population trend is labelled Stable, but counts vary across reserves: some populations, including Kruger National Park, have increased, while several state protected-area populations have declined.