In Zambia’s newest national park, on the outskirts of its capital

Lusaka, live more than 200 sable antelope. Coralled in conditions

that are far from ideal, the animals have languished there

for almost three years, the victims of bureacracy, unscrupulous

operators and a disregard for conservation imperatives. Investigative

journalist Ian Michler filed this special report.

In November 2009, Africa Geographic published a notice (Sable Alert; Vol. 17, No. 10) warning of the illegal importation of sable antelope Hippotragus niger, most likely of the subspecies H. n. kirkii, from Zambia and Malawi into South Africa. With a number of wildlife breeders reputed to be involved, there were murmurings of animals being smuggled, some bound by their feet, across international boundaries in light aircraft using unregistered airstrips and via road shipments through small or remote border posts. 

During the first half of 2010 there were subsequent reports in the wider press of a deal involving the sale of sables by the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to a South African consortium. These accounts also covered disputes between government and private-sector agencies over the importation of these animals and the subsequent transfer (without notice) of three officials for the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries--apparently for refusing to sign permits authorising the sables' irregular importation.