Roan antelope
Hippotragus equinus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)
The roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) is a mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Antilopinae and tribe Hippotragini, within the order Artiodactyla. It is a terrestrial, diurnal herbivore in the giant size class, with a representative adult body mass of 270 kg.
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Quick facts about the roan antelope
The IUCN Red List lists the roan antelope as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and its lifespan is recorded at up to 25.9 years.
- Weight
- 233.5 kg – 270 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- 1.9 m – 2.4 msrc for Length
- Height
- 1.3 m – 1.4 msrc for Height
- Lifespan
- 25.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 25.9 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 274 days – 304 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 years – 2.23 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.18src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the roan antelope?
Photos of the roan antelope
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the roan antelope live?
Not recorded
What is the roan antelope?
The roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) is a large, savanna-dwelling antelope found in Western, Southern, and parts of Central and Eastern Africa. Named for its roan colour (a slightly reddish, sandy-brown), it has a lighter-toned underbelly and a (mostly) white face and snout, but with a black "mask" around the eyes and on the bridge of the snout, being somewhat lighter in females. Additionally, a pair of formidable, recurved horns (made of keratin-covered bone) are present on the heads of both males and females, albeit larger on the males, growing up to 100 cm (39 in) long. Males and females have short, erect, mohawk-like manes running down their back and very light, shaggy neckbeards, both of which are more pronounced in males. Both mane and neckbeard are tinted with darker tips, which run the length of the animal's back and belly, ending in a dark-coloured tail. The ears are long, erect, and donkey-like.
The roan is among the world's largest antelopes, after the elands (Taurotragus sp.) and the nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), measuring 190–240 cm (75–94 in) from the head to the base of the tail, with a 37–48 cm (15–19 in)-long tail. Males weigh upwards of 242–300 kg (534–661 lb) and females 223–280 kg (492–617 lb), with a shoulder height of around 130–140 cm (51–55 in).
From the Wikipedia article “Roan antelope” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roan_antelope&oldid=1381276328), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the roan antelope endangered?
The roan antelope is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the roan antelope classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusHippotragus
- SpeciesHippotragus equinus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)
Synonyms Antilope equinus, Hippotragus equinus, Hippotragus equinus bakeri, Hippotragus equinus cottoni, Hippotragus equinus equinus, Hippotragus equinus koba, Hippotragus equinus langheldi, Hippotragus equinus scharicus
Other names and names in other languages (7)
- BastergemsbokAfrikaans
- HippotragueFrench
- Antilope chevalineFrench
- Antilope rouaneFrench
- PhofuSouthern Sotho
- TholoVenda
- IMpofuZulu
Relatives of the roan antelope
Other species in the same genus Hippotragus.
Sable antelope
Hippotragus niger
Bluebuck
Hippotragus leucophaeus
Roosevelt's sable antelope
Hippotragus roosevelti
CompareRoan antelope vs Sable antelopeRoan antelope vs BluebuckRoan antelope vs Roosevelt's sable antelope
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How heavy is a roan antelope?
The roan antelope has a representative adult body mass of 270 kg, which places it in the giant size class. The lowest adult body mass reported by our sources is 233.5 kg.
What does the roan antelope eat?
The roan antelope is a herbivore. It is terrestrial and diurnal.
Is the roan antelope endangered?
No. The roan antelope is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a roan antelope live?
The roan antelope has a lifespan of 25.8 years, with a highest reported value of 25.9 years.
How many young does a roan antelope have?
The roan antelope has 1 young per litter, with 1.18 litters per year. Gestation lasts 283.8 days, from 273.9 to 304.4 days across our sources.
When does a roan antelope reach sexual maturity?
The roan antelope reaches sexual maturity at 772 days (2.1 years), with reported values from 2.0 to 2.2 years.
What kind of animal is the roan antelope?
The roan antelope is a mammal in the family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla, belonging to the genus Hippotragus.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/roan-antelope
“Roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/roan-antelope.
@misc{roan_antelope_2026,
title = {Roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/roan-antelope},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}