An antelope with long ears and contrasting pale and dark facial markings.
The coat is gray-brown with a reddish tint. Long ears have dark hair at their tips, and both sexes have backward-curving horns.
Roan antelope herds are organized by dominance. In 1970, Joubert intensively observed ten animals in a 1.6 km² enclosure designed to simulate natural conditions, and also studied free-ranging herds in Kruger National Park. Adult bulls were intolerant of one another: a male defended an “intolerance zone” about 600 m in diameter and challenged another adult male that entered. Herd activity zones did not overlap; they were used throughout the year, with boundaries marked visually and by scent.
The study recorded mating behaviour from courtship through post-copulatory behaviour. Calves concealed themselves during their first six weeks, and the author judged the mother–calf relationship well suited to conditions in the park.
IUCN Red List (IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group) · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The roan antelope is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. The latest global assessment shown in that record was dated 9 May 2016 and published in 2017. It estimated 50,000–60,000 mature individuals at the time and recorded a decreasing global population trend; this is an assessment-era estimate, not a current census. The assessment identifies hunting and habitat loss associated with settlement and agricultural expansion as threats. It calls for habitat management, harvest management, and monitoring of population and harvest trends. Although the species has a broad African range, conditions vary by region, and declines have also been recorded in some protected areas.