Sable antelope
Hippotragus niger (Harris, 1838)
The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger), also called the giant sable antelope or southern sable antelope, is a mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Antilopinae and tribe Hippotragini. It is a large, terrestrial, diurnal herbivore with an adult body mass of 227.5 kg.
Quick facts about the sable antelope
The sable antelope is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 227.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 22.2 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 259 days – 289 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.1 years – 3.24 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src 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
Photos of the sable antelope
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the sable antelope live?
Not recorded
What is the sable antelope?
The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) is a large antelope which inhabits wooded savanna in East and Southern Africa, from the south of Kenya to South Africa, with a separated population in Angola.
From the Wikipedia article “Sable antelope” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sable_antelope&oldid=1383863094), 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.
What does the sable antelope sound like?
Is the sable antelope endangered?
The sable 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 sable antelope classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusHippotragus
- SpeciesHippotragus niger (Harris, 1838)
Synonyms Aigererus niger, Aigocerus niger
Other names and names in other languages (42)
- Giant sable antelopeEnglish
- Giant sable antelopeEnglish
- Southern sable antelopeEnglish
- Southern sable antelopeEnglish
- SwartwitpensAfrikaans
- ظبي سابلArabic
- ظبي السمورArabic
- antilopa vranáCzech
- RappenantilopeGerman
- Südliche RappenantilopeGerman
- Μαύρος ΙππότραγοςGreek
- Antilope NegroSpanish
- Antílope sableSpanish
- Antílope Sable NegroSpanish
- musta-antilooppiFinnish
- Hippotrague noirFrench
- Hippotrague Géant De L'AngolaFrench
- Hippotrague Noir GéantFrench
- Fekete lóantilopHungarian
- Antilope NeraItalian
- セーブルアンテロープJapanese
- 검은영양Korean
- SabelantilopeNorwegian Bokmål
- Zwarte PaardantilopeDutch
- Antylopa szablorogaPolish
- antylopowiec szablorogiPolish
- Palanca-negraPortuguese
- Чёрная антилопаRussian
- črna grivasta antilopaSlovenian
- sabelantilopSwedish
- svart hästantilopSwedish
- MbarapiSwahili
- Samur antilobuTurkish
- kwalataTswana
- KookaamaTswana
- Kwalata e ntshoTswana
- MhalamhalaTsonga
- mpalampalaTsonga
- Антилопа чорнаUkrainian
- Шаблеріг чорнийUkrainian
- 黑馬羚Chinese
- mPalampaleZulu
Relatives of the sable antelope
Other species in the same genus Hippotragus.
Roan antelope
Hippotragus equinus
Blaaubok
Hippotragus leucophaeus
Roosevelt's sable antelope
Hippotragus roosevelti
CompareSable antelope vs Roan antelopeSable antelope vs BlaaubokSable 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.
What kind of animal is the sable antelope?
The sable antelope is a mammal in the family Bovidae and order Artiodactyla. It is a large, terrestrial animal active by day.
How heavy is a sable antelope?
An adult sable antelope has a body mass of 227.5 kg, with a lowest reported value of 225 kg.
What does the sable antelope eat?
The sable antelope is a herbivore.
Is the sable antelope endangered?
No. The sable antelope is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a sable antelope live?
The sable antelope has a lifespan of 22.2 years, and the highest value reported by our sources is 22.25 years.
When does a sable antelope reach sexual maturity?
The sable antelope reaches sexual maturity at 2.7 years, with reported values from 2.1 to 3.2 years.
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). Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sable-antelope
“Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sable-antelope.
@misc{sable_antelope_2026,
title = {Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sable-antelope},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}