The giant sable, unique to Angola and believed by many to be extinct after one of Africa’s longest and most bloody civil conflicts, is alive, well and breeding. But news of its survival could pose the biggest threat to its existence yet.
Senior conservationist Pedro Vaz Pinto, who for two years scrambled to uncover the truth about this striking subspecies of the common antelope, said photographic and DNA evidence he had finally managed to obtain were conclusive proof of its survival.
‘We’d been seeing droppings and tracks of the giant sable for around two years, but that wasn’t good enough. We needed proof,” said Vaz Pinto, coordinator of the project for the Centre for Scientific Studies and Investigation at Angola’s Catholic University.
‘This is the first definitive sighting backed with concrete evidence in more than 20 years,” he said.
Photos taken in February and made public in April show a herd of the notoriously shy animals with their trademark white facial markings, grazing in their natural habitat in the Kangandala National Park in northern Malange province. Two of the cows are visibly pregnant.
These, added to results of dung specimens Vaz Pinto sent for DNA testing, gave the almost obsessive wildlife lover definitive confirmation that ‘this really is the giant sable.”
The majestic species — known in Angola as the palanca negra and revered for its aesthetic beauty and rarity — is a national symbol, used on the logo of the national airline TAAG, its kwanza banknotes and as a mascot for its football team.
It had become something of a mythical creature, not least because of a fear that the country’s 27-year civil war — which ended three years ago — could have wiped out the species altogether.
‘The last confirmed sighting was in 1982. Since then, lots of people have said ‘Yeah, I saw the giant sable’, but none of those claims were ever confirmed,” Vaz Pinto said, who also works as conservation director at the Kissama Foundation, which runs the Kissama National Park an hour’s drive south of Luanda.
Finding conclusive traces of the elusive mammal — whose distinctive curvy horns can stretch up to 63 inches (1,56m) — was no easy task. The gruelling search sent Vaz Pinto and his team of intrepid conservationists to great lengths, including expeditions on foot and a more ambitious project using micro-light aircraft.
But it was a simple camera trick that finally hit the jackpot.
Last October, they set up six hidden cameras around natural salt deposits the herbivores are attracted to because the sodium helps their digestion. An animal crossing an infrared beam would trigger the cameras to take a photo but it took a while for the positive sightings to come in.
‘We went up to Malange every month to check the film but we kept getting pictures of other animals such as bush buck and duikers. We finally got results in February,” said Vaz Pinto.
‘I went crazy, I was very excited. I’m happy because for two years, since we started thinking about this, we’ve taken it one step at a time, and every step we have accomplished,” he added, clearly enthused.
Victim of its own legend?
But finding the giant sable is only the first of many challenges. Vaz Pinto warned that the news of its definitive existence could threaten its very survival.
‘Yes, this is good, this is fantastic, but what happens next?” He added that protection was a top priority, followed by a comprehensive survey to establish how many giant sable still exist.
‘I’m convinced we still have a few herds left. We’re still seeing tracks and spoor, but they have diminished and if these animals are left unprotected, their situation can only get worse,” he said.
One fear is that over-zealous trophy hunters may be tempted to venture into the giant sable’s territory in search of those huge horns. But the greatest risk is posed by potential breeders.
‘It would be worth a lot of money for a breeder to get the semen and start crossing giant sable with the ordinary sable. This is a big danger because if you mix the two species you will lose the uniqueness of the breed,” said Vaz Pinto.
With locals chopping down trees to make charcoal for fuel, preserving the creature’s environment was also vital.
‘At the moment, their natural habitat is in pretty good condition but the amount of charcoal produced in Malange is increasing at an alarming rate. The damage still hasn’t reached the national park but in the next few years, it certainly will,” said Vaz Pinto.
But with the introduction of a comprehensive national programme to protect Angola’ s rediscovered treasure, he remained hopeful the giant sable could prosper.
‘If they survived 30 years of war under those difficult circumstances, I’m sure they can continue to thrive,” he concluded.