Finding the Mythical Sable Antelope

  Finding the Mythical Sable Antelope

   The sable antelope (hippotragus niger), is one of the rarest, and hardest to find antelope in Africa. Until this past trip into Kruger National Park in South Africa I had only spotted 2 in all of my Africa travels; one in the desolate Katavi National Park in Tanzania and one in the heavily wooded region of Pretoriaskop in Kruger National Park. 

Regal Sable Antelope

When I was growing up my family spent all of our free time on a privately owned island off the coast of Georgia which the Bronx Zoo used as an off-site breeding area for incredibly rare and endangered animals. Some of these breeding programs went so well that animals were moved from here back into the wild all over Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Surrounded by exotic animals like lemurs, zebra, and Arabian oryx was a magical experience for a young future biologist like me. But of all of these wonderful creatures there was always one that capture my attention more than any other, a certain sable antelope nicknamed Ivan the Terrible.
 

Herd of Sable in Kruger N.P.

     Ivan was old, beautiful, and proud with perfect arcing ringed horns over 5ft long. He was also a great breeder which made him very important in the captive world of these critically endangered animals. He had been darted so many times in his past that his defense when I met him was to charge anyone that looked like they might be holding a dart gun. I found out about this the first time I tried to take his picture. Apparently a camera looks eerily similar to a shiny, black, dart gun. I'm not sure if they danger surrounding Ivan drew me in or just how regal an animal he seemed to be. But I knew I wanted to someday find his kind out in the wild. I had no idea how hard that would be.

My first encounter in Kruger, 2010

   With numbers estimated near 75,000 individuals, one would think finding a sable antelope would easy, but the small herds prefer densely wooded areas of the savannas making them difficult to find. A subspecies called the Giant Sable are even harder to find with only 200 or so individuals in the war torn wilds of Angola. My goal was to find them in Kruger this visit but I didn't have high hopes.
 
  Asking around about the best spots to see sable in Kruger usually starts a heated discussion among local visitors. Long ago stories of quick sable spottings bubble back to the surface in excited remembrance. The woods between the Orpen Gate and Pretoriaskop are a possibility says one person, while another swears the best place is on the road north of Skukuza towards Satara. Others just shake their head and scarcely believe that there really are sable antelope in the park, having been there many times without ever seeing them. There is almost a myth surrounding this majestic animals that makes a sighting that much more exciting.

Relative of Ivan the Terrible

   And exciting it was! On one way north from Skukuza camp to Satara something moving through the trees caught my eye. Not just one, but six sable antelopes glided between the trunks. Without the destruction of the trees due to drought and elephants in this part of the park we never would have seen them. Just like that I had tripled my sable antelope sightings in the wild. I could believe our luck. These sable were a bit shy, choosing to stay far back from the road and walk parallel through the dead trees. After watching them disappear we turned around and drove down the road hoping for another look. Luck was on our side again as their trail took them across the main road. They broke into an all out run as they crossed the road and then quickly disappeared again, not to be seen again. I was in a bit of a shock and glad to have remembered to push the shutter on the camera. I couldn't help but think of old Ivan the Terrible as we slowly headed north again.

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