Ba ss o n co nducted a n ation al su r ve y an d th e re su l t of h e r 1 9 8 9 c e n su s i s ta b l e d b e l ow.
Region
Number of remaining sable antelope
Number of meta-populations
Cape Province
67
7
Western Transvaal
283
12
Eastern Transvaal
167
13
Northern Transvaal
749
49
Northern Transvaal (Waterberg)
88
5
1,354
85
Total
Thes e animals occur re d i n s m a l l f ra g m e n te d h e rd s a n d
3. Po o r g ra z i n g m a n a g e m e n t a n d v e l d d e g ra d a t i o n .
mostly in meta-popu l a t i o n s o f 1 6 i n d i v i d u a l a n i m a l s o r
4. Pre d a t i o n .
less. Basson cited the following reasons for the
5. I m p a l a
thrived
in
these
small
areas
and
their
conti nuous d ecl i ne.
i n c re a s i n g n u m b e r s p u t a d d i t i o n a l p re s s u re o n sable
1. G e neral d evel opme n t ( a g r i c u l t u ra l , r u ra l a n d u r ba n ) .
a n te l o p e .
2. Fencing of uneco n o m i c a l l y s m a l l f "