Editing Sable antelope (section)

===Subspecies===
''Hipotragus niger'' has four subspecies:

* The '''southern sable antelope''' (''H. n. niger''; also known as the '''common sable antelope''', '''black sable antelope''', '''Matsetsi sable antelope''' or '''South Zambian sable antelope''') is regarded as the [[Subspecies#Nominotypical subspecies and subspecies autonyms|nominate subspecies]], as it was the first one to be described and named in 1838. Often referred to as the black sable antelope because it tends to have the darkest coat, this subspecies occurs south of the Zambezi River, particularly in northern Botswana and in large numbers in the Matsetsi Valley of Zimbabwe, but it is also found in South Africa. In South Africa, most of the commercial sable antelope farmers crossed their Matsetsi sable antelope (indigenous to South Africa) with Zambian sable antelope in the hope to move nearer to the nearly extinct giant sable antelope (that was larger with bigger horns). Currently, only about 15% pure Matsetsi sable antelopes are thought to exist in South Africa. The Matsetsi sable antelope population in Zimbabwe is only 450 (down from 24,000 in 1994).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Crosmary |first1=William-Georges |last2=Chamaillé-Jammes |first2=Simon |last3=Mtare |first3=Godfrey |last4=Fritz |first4=Hervé |last5=Côté |first5=Steeve D. |date=2015-01-07 |title=Decline of sable antelope in one of its key conservation areas: the greater Hwange ecosystem, Zimbabwe |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aje.12207 |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=194–205 |doi=10.1111/aje.12207 |issn=0141-6707|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The sable antelope population in South Africa is about 7,000 (commercial and in reserves). Therefore, the Matsetsi sable antelope population apparently is less than 1,500 and declining. However, most of the sable antelope in the reserves are pure Matsetsi sable antelope. Anglo-American recently started a program of breeding pure Matsetsi sable antelope commercially and keeping them pure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://exoticgamefreestate.com/?page_id=30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906141837/http://exoticgamefreestate.com/?page_id=30 |archive-date=2013-09-06 |title=Hipotrachus Niger {{!}} Exotic Game Farming Orange Free State}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wpazambia.com/Articles/Archive/Western%20Zambian%20Sable.html |title=Wildlife Producers Association of Zambia |access-date=2014-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103162628/http://www.wpazambia.com/Articles/Archive/Western%20Zambian%20Sable.html |archive-date=2014-11-03 }}</ref>
* The '''[[giant sable antelope]]''' (''H. n. variani''; also known as the '''royal sable antelope''') is so named because both sexes are larger and their horns are recognizably longer. It is found only in a few remaining localities in central Angola. It is classified as [[Critically Endangered]] on the IUCN Red List and is listed on Appendix I of CITES.
* The '''Zambian sable antelope''' (''H. n. kirkii''; also known as the '''West Zambian sable antelope''' or '''West Tanzanian sable antelope''') occurs in central [[Angola]], western [[Zambia]] and [[Malawi]] and has the largest geographic range of the four subspecies, which extends north of the Zambezi River through Zambia, the eastern [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] and [[Malawi]] into southwestern [[Tanzania]]. It is classified as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/out_and_about/1246201/sable_shenanigans_how_zambias_sable_population_is_falling_prey_to_unscrupulous_traders.html|title=Sable shenanigans: how Zambia's sable population is falling prey to unscrupulous traders|work=The Ecologist|access-date=2017-07-13}}</ref><ref name="wildlifeextra.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/world/sable-south-africa.html#cr|title=Wildlife as a commodity - Incarcerated by red tape|website=www.wildlifeextra.com|language=en|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141105101241/http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/world/sable-south-africa.html%23cr#cr|archive-date=November 5, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The '''eastern sable antelope''' (''H. n. roosevelti''; also known as the '''Shimba sable antelope''') is the smallest of the four subspecies. It occurs in the coastal hinterlands of southern Kenya, particularly in the [[Shimba Hills National Reserve]], and ranges through the region east of Tanzania's eastern escarpment and into northern Mozambique.<ref name="wildlifeextra.com"/><ref name="KingdonHappold2013">{{cite book|author1=Jonathan Kingdon|author2=David Happold|author3=Thomas Butynski|author4=Michael Hoffmann|author5=Meredith Happold|author6=Jan Kalina|title=Mammals of Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_07noCPc4kC&pg=RA4-PA557|date=23 May 2013|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4081-8996-2|pages=557}}</ref>

In English "great sable antelope", "sable" or the Swahili name ''mbarapi'' are sometimes used. An archaic term used in accounts of hunting expeditions in South Africa is "potaquaine";<ref>''Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior Of South Africa''. Roualeyn George Gordon-Cumming (1820–1866); London, John Murray, 1855</ref> the origin and exact application are unclear. Local names include swartwitpens ([[Afrikaans]]), kgama or phalafala ([[Sotho language|Sotho]]), mBarapi or palahala ([[Swahili language|Swahili]]), kukurugu, kwalat or kwalata ([[Tswana language|Tswana]]), ngwarati ([[Shona language|Shona]]), iliza ([[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]),  impalampala ([[Zulu language|Zulu]]) and umtshwayeli ([[Northern Ndebele language|Ndebele]]).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Life]] |title=''Hippotragus niger''—Names |url=https://eol.org/pages/331077/names |access-date=9 October 2019}}</ref>