Roan Antelope
The Roan Antelope - Bandit Of The Savannah
Of course, the Roan antelope is not a bandit, but it certainly looks the part with its contrasting light and dark facial markings.
It is a large antelope, with very large ears and black and scimitar-like horns.
It is rare and endangered in the wild, living in herds on the savannah grasslands of Africa south of the Sahara desert.
Picturing it in the tall savannah grass, it is easy to see that its facial markings help to break up its outline and make it less visible to predators like big cats.
The Color Roan
Roan is the name given to the color of the coat of many animals - from horses and cattle, to dogs and guinea pigs.
It is a mixture of colored hairs and white hairs, which means that the coat stays the same color as the animal gets older rather than fading to white.
In the case of the Roan antelope it is these mixed hairs that gives it the buff or fawn coloring along its flanks and the vibrant reddish color to its upper parts.