Translocation of roan antelope in South Africa and the effect this has had on the genetic diversity of the species

M.A.The management and conservation of the Roan Antelope in South Africa is very important because their numbers are seriously declining. Numbers in the Kruger National Park have declined from 450 in 1986, to 30 free ranging animals in 2002. The Roan Antelope has six classified subspecies, one of them believed to be endemic only to South Africa. Great confusion exists as to what the differences between these subspecies actually are and where they are supposed to occur. The aim of this study is to establish the geographical range and perceived differences of the alleged Roan Antelope subspecies in order to determine whether any subspecies actually do occur. It further aims to determine which subspecies, if any, would be endemic or exotic to South Africa, and how translocation of the alleged Roan Antelope subspecies could have affected the biodiversity of the local Roan Antelope populations This study is important because the Department of Nature Conservation and Tourism has placed a moratorium on the movement and sale of alleged exotic Roan Antelope subspecies imported by private breeders in order to conform to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s guidelines to protect endemic species. This has caused great financial loss to the private breeders in that they cannot sell their excess stock, valued at R 150 000 per animal. This study suggests that the historical classification of the alleged Roan Antelope subspecies were done erroneously, and that subspecies should in fact never have been classified. The study also found evidence that alleged exotic Roan Antelope were imported into South Africa and released into state owned nature reserves and national parks. This seriously affected the biodiversity of the alleged endemic Roan Antelope and suggests that there is no pure endemic Roan Antelope populations left in South Africa. This study thus calls for the cancellation of the moratorium on the sale and movement of all Roan Antelope in South Africa