Roan antelope are highly sought after trophy animals like their cousin, the sable.
There were five accepted subspecies of roan in Africa - southern, western, East African, Angolan and Sudan roan. These still all stand in the RW and SCI record books except SCI has amalgamated the Angolan roan into the southern roan category. IUCN finds all roans, except possibly the western roan, to be genetically the same subspecies - the jury is still out.
Where To Hunt A Roan Antelope
Roan was a CITES II animal some years back but were subsequently downlisted. Roan populations are still under some pressure and dwindling in some parts of Africa but not enough to be elevated above 'Least Concern' by IUCN.
- The Sudan roan does occur in the far west of Ethiopia and northern Uganda but is not huntable in these countries.
- The Angolan roan, which are no longer recognised by SCI and IUCN, technically could be the roan hunted in the Caprivi of Namibia and the roan that was huntable in northern Botswana before the moratorium on roan hunting and the later complete ban on hunting on public land.
- You can hunt a western roan in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Central African Republic (CAR).
- You can hunt a southern roan in Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. The southern roan in Zimbabwe and Mozambique are protected and not huntable.
- You can hunt an East African roan in western Tanzania.
Roan Antelope Hunting Prices (For Informative Use Only)
- In Benin, the western roan has a trophy fee of between 1200 Euros and 2400 Euros.
- In Burkina Faso the western roan trophy fee is between 460 Euros and 2950 Euros.
- In Cameroon, the western roan is in the Group A savanna trophy list with a fee usually about 2000 Euros but can be found for 760 Euros and 3500 Euros.
- In Central African Republic (CAR), the western roan has a trophy fee from 2000 Euros to 2600 Euros.
- In Tanzania, you can hunt an East African roan on a 21 day licence. The Government trophy fee for a roan is US$2550. With the added Community Development/anti-poaching fees, the full trophy fee will be between US$3250 and US$4230.
- In Namibia, there is a limited quota of free-range southern roan that may be hunted in the Caprivi. They also may be hunted on some private game ranches. Roan trophy prices are between US$8000 and US$12000.
- In South Africa the southern roan is a TOPS animal, needing a special permit to be issued before the hunt. Most roan are hunted on private game ranches and the trophy fees are between US$9500 and US$13950.
- In Zambia, you can hunt a southern roan for between US$7000 and US$10500.
Difference Between Roan Subspecies
There are no obvious physical differences between the roan subspecies. They all are roughly the same size and may vary slightly in colour from a more reddish to a grizzly grey colour.