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Game Warden

Please include when and where taken, tech specs and any other pertinent information from the sighting. Matt

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Robins Camp area, Hwange National Park - August '93

 

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Ugalla Game Reserve, Tanzania - August '07

 

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Busanga, Kafue National Park, Zambia - August '08

 

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Busanga, Kafue National Park, Zambia - August '08

 

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Lufupa area, Kafue National Park, Zambia - September '09

 

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Busanga, Kafue National Park, Zambia - September '09

 

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Ruma National Park, Kenya - January '10

 

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Ruma National Park, Kenya - January '10

 

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Kwando (near Lebala Camp), Botswana - September '11

 

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Kingfisher Safaris

Seen in Hwange, Zimbabwe 2009 near Ngweshla Pan

 

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just one more photo...Selinda area September 2010

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africapurohit

The first photo is not great but it was the best I got for a rare sighting of Roan in Ruaha National Park, 2008.

 

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Roan sighting in Selinda area, 2006.

 

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Roan sightings in Kwando area, 2006.

 

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Savute, August 2011.

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Wild Dogger

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Kwara, November 2012

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Game Warden

Spot the "Odd one Out" @@Treepol ?

 

BTW when I looked closely I noticed the angle of the horn on that oryx...

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Ewan Masson called this guy the 'lost oryx' and I wondered if his lopsided horn had caused him to hang out with the roan after his own species had moved to greener pastures.

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Ewan Masson called this guy the 'lost oryx' and I wondered if his lopsided horn had caused him to hang out with the roan after his own species had moved to greener pastures.

 

In fact, roan in Afrikaans is "baster gemsbok", no doubt originating from the two species' similar facial markings.

 

Here is another oryx (beisa) with a roan identity crisis (taken at Awash, Ethiopia):

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Let's see some more recent Roan photos...

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  • 1 year later...

Inspired by @KafueTyrone’s comments in his Zakouma trip report about the difference in appearance between the roan there and the ones at Busanga in Kafue NP in Zambia I decided to have look through all of my roan photos from various parts of Africa and then add some more photos to this thread.

 

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Roan antelope at Rigueik in Zakouma National Park

 

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Roan antelopes near Main Camp in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe

 

 

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Edited by inyathi
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~ @@inyathi

 

Thank you for adding these images.

Having never seen roan antelope, they've never been in my thoughts for any reason.

Hence I was wholly unaware that there were discernible visual distinctions between regional populations.

For anyone living in an information-limited area, as I do, such photos or ant pertinent behavioral details are highly appreciated.

While I have no reasonable expectation of ever seeing a roan antelope, I'm interested in whatever others have learned about them.

When Safaritalk fills its educational role concerning African wildlife, it raises global consciousness of less-known species.

This post is much appreciated!

Tom K.

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Zakouma National Park has to be one of the very best places to see roan antelopes they’re so common throughout the park that you hardly have to look for them, on my last visit in April 2015 we saw them every single day this for makes Zakouma certainly one of the most reliable places to see them. The previous two Zakouma shots were from my April 2015 visit the following two are from my late April 2014 visit.

 

 

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Roan Antelope in Zakouma National Park in Chad

 

 

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Edited by inyathi
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I could say based on my one experience of visiting Hwange, that this is also an excellent place to see Roan, however, while I did see them more distantly on two other occasions, this close up view of a large herd drinking from a waterhole, right beside the road on the way to Main Camp, just before leaving the park, was I think pure luck. I don’t think you can count on seeing roan in Hwange, like you can sable, so I would say it’s a very good place to look for them, but maybe not the place to go, if you want to be absolutely certain of seeing them. At least that's my impression, but I don't know Hwange, as well as some here.

 

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Roan Antelopes near Main Camp Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe in August 2013

 

 

 

 

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Edited by inyathi
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Another place that like Hwange offers a good chance of seeing Roan, but not guaranteed is Ruaha NP in Tanzania, seeing Roan here is again down to luck, sometimes you get lucky and stumble across some, and sometimes you can search everywhere and find none at all. I have been lucky and seen them here on two visits, the following are from scanned slides.

 

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Roan antelopes and greater kudu in Ruaha in 1995

 

 

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Roan antelope in Ruaha in 2001

 

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Edited by inyathi
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One of the problems with my old slides is that they don’t have the shooting date and time attached to them, like digital photos do, unfortunately when I posted those last two photos from Ruaha, I misremembered the date they were actually taken in Sept 2000 not 2001

 

I’ve also seen them a couple of times in Katavi, but never very close the following scanned slide, is the only photo I’ve got from Katavi, that I thought worth uploading, this small herd was seen at a seriously hot time of day, somewhere on the way to Lake Katavi. I’ve also seen them mixed in with a zebras and topis on the floodplain at Katisunga, but the photos I’ve got are not that great, because of the heat haze and probably because I don’t have the best slide scanner.

 

 

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Very hot Roan antelopes in Katavi National Park in Tanzania September 2002

Edited by inyathi
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The Kwando Reserve in northern Botswana, is another place where you have a reasonable chance of at least seeing Roan, although they don’t seem especially common, I’ve really only seen individual Roan here, rather than herds while staying at Lebala, but some of the earlier photos in this thread, suggest that this area is good for seeing roan.

 

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Lebala Kwando Reserve Botswana November 1999

Edited by inyathi
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If you can’t make it to Zakouma and you really want to see Roan and perhaps you’ve been to some of these other places and been unlucky, then there are two other places, that I have been to where sightings can be just about guaranteed, at least you would have to be exceptionally unlucky not to see Roan.

 

These two locations both in south Central Africa, are the Busanga Plains area of Kafue National Park in Zambia and the Nyika Plateau, in Nyika National Park in Malawi. It’s always a bit risky to say, that you can be absolutely certain of seeing any animal, if you go to a particular place, but at least as far as Nyika is concerned, I’m confident that anyone who goes there for a few days, will see Roan.

 

These two scanned slides of Roan on the Busanga Plains, don't quite match the standard of the earlier Busanga Roan, in this thread, but they give an impression of Busanga Plains.

 

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Busanga Plains October 2004

 

 

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Edited by inyathi
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Before heading up onto the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, at the bottom below the Nyika in is Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve, this is another place where if you’re lucky you can see Roan.

 

 

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Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve October 2004

 

The huge Nyika Plateau is almost entirely in Malawi, but a small part of it extends over the border in to Zambia, almost the whole of the plateau is protected within Nyika National Park, the largest protected area in Malawi, there is a tiny park of the same name on the Zambian side. The Zambian Park is only accesible from Malawi and the only accomodation a colonial era resthouse closed in 1998, despite plans to renovate and re-open it remains derelict. Most of the Plateau lies at between 2,100m (6890ft) and 2,200m (7218ft) the highest point Nganda Peak is 2605m (8547ft) the habitat is primarily open montane grassland rich in wildflowers with tiny remnant patches of montane forest, nestling in some of the valleys. This spectacular open country is home to large herds of Roan as well as Common Eland, Crawshay’s (Plains) Zebras and Southern Reedbuck.

 

All of the Roan so far have been in what I would think of as fairly typical African landscapes, but up here, the landscape is really so different to anywhere else, it’s almost un-African, perhaps more reminiscent of parts of Scotland or Dartmoor in the UK. While Zakouma and Katavi are blastingly hot, the Nyika is distinctly cool at night, the log fires in the rooms at Chelinda Lodge are very welcome, certainly if you’ve been out on a chilly night drive.

 

 

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Nyika landscape with Roan February 2001

Edited by inyathi
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Here are two roan from places where few people see them.

 

The first one in South Luangwa. Tourists rarely see them but they are there, you just have to know where and when to look. Late dry season along the the Luwi river west from the 05 crossing used to be good. And late dry season at the lagoons near Kalamu camp (now closed) in the Luamfwa sector used to be good too.

 

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And this one is from Liuwa Plain National Park. There were always some roan seen on and of north of the park, and that herd seems to be growing. Sometimes during the rains roan were seen further south in the inside the park and 3 years ago suddenly 2 showed up in the south of the park. This picture was from the first time I, really unexpectedly, came across them. At the moment that group has grown to 4 individuals and they are now closely monitored.

 

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More Roan in Nyika NP Malawi.

 

 

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February 2001

 

Although the Nyika is predominantly grassland some areas have been taken over by bracken

 

 

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February 2001

 

 

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Young Roan October 2004

Edited by inyathi
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~ @@inyathi

 

Without in any sense intending to discount the value of information conveyed in written commentary, I must express my strong appreciation to you for presenting these roan antelope images.

With passing years, I've found that my understanding of wildlife taxa is enhanced by seeing comparative photos such as you've presented here. What's especially valuable from my standpoint is seeing the habitat context which affords a sense of the range of locations where they might be observed.

A puzzle to me, who solely knows Hippotragus equinus from field guide entries, has been the distinctive population distribution with a marked separation between the northern and the southern race.

Your series of posts has resolved several questions in my mind. All interested Safaritalk members and visitors are in your debt for the care taken to prepare and upload these images.

With Much Appreciation,

Tom K. (who has no expectation whatsoever of ever directly observing a Roan Antelope, but who nonetheless admires their striking beauty)

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Why not @@Tom Kellie? Plenty of places to see them and a much more likely sighting than a Zorilla I would have thought :)

Edited by wilddog
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Why not @@Tom Kellie? Plenty of places to see them and a much more likely sighting than a Zorilla I would have thought :)

 

~ @@wilddog

 

Your optimism is a welcome shot in the arm!

Thank you.

Of course, you're absolutely right.

I have recently felt as though my safari good fortune has been depleted by far too many consecutive wonderful safaris.

By nature, throughout my life I've had very low expectations of most everything, including safari sightings. I've never been the type to hope for very much.

I've so loved @@inyathi's fine Roan Antelope series in this thread that seeing what he's presented has seemed beyond what I might ever do.

Who knows? I may yet be surprised at what passes by a safari vehicle.

Tom K.

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