A Sable By Any Other Name

Sable ~ Mookaite

What does the word "sable" bring to your mind? The fancier folks out there might picture a luxurious fur coat (I know that is what Mrs. Howell from Gilligan's Island would picture.)  If you are an animal person you might think of the animal to whom the fur coat originally belonged. All the dog people will tell you "sable" is a coat color pattern with black tipped hairs on a tan background."Sable" actually means "dark" or "somber." This is where the sable antelope got it's name, referring to its dark coloration. At first, this antelope was called Palahal in the Swahili language, but now it is known as its more common English name.

Sable antelope are native to Africa and are the national animal of Zimbabwe. Today only 75,000 remain in the wild, mostly because they are prized by hunters for their 3.9 foot horns. Of course, they are also threatened by livestock encroaching on prime Savannah land.

Being an antelope, humans are not their only predator. Lions, hyenas and leopards like them not for their horns, but their meat. But sables don't take well to aggressive advances from predators. Instead of turning tail and running, sable antelope confront their would-be-attackers with horns swinging. I think that is my favorite of their characteristics; sable antelope don't take garbage from anyone, no matter how big or intimidating.  That is what the word "sable" means to me.