The largest herd of giant sable in Lunado.
Angola’s giant sable (palanca negra), usually regarded as the most magnificent antelope in the world, is also one of the most endangered mammals in Africa today. From civil war to cross breeding and poaching, this animal’s struggle to survive continues. The Angola Field Group invites you to hear an update on The Giant Sable Conservation Initiative, Thursday, October 25 at 8:00 pm at the Viking Club, with Biologist Pedro Vaz Pinto, the man who has spent the last decade rescuing Angola’s splendid antelope. Pedro is also program manager for the Kissama Foundation and researcher at the Catholic University.
Pedro’s last Angola Field Group presentation was in 2009 when he told us about the capture program which translocated all the pure giant sable females in Cangandala National Park by air, to a safe enclosure in the park. Over the last few years the giant sable conservation initiative has made significant progress. A fenced camp covering 4,000 hectares was built in Cangandala National Park, and following the capture operation in 2009 mentioned above and a later one in 2011, a breeding program was initiated which has produced the first calves. Nevertheless there are less than 100 animals alive in total, making this magnificent creature one of the most endangered African mammals. In Luando Reserve, aerial surveys have allowed the project to locate the surviving herds, and several animals were marked and remotely tracked. Luando Reserve is the area of Malange province where the pure male giant sables were captured and flown to the fenced camp in Cangandala to breed with the pure females. Click on ‘Giant Sable’ on this website’s top menu or simply click here for more details of the capture/breeding program. The giant Sable Conservation Initiative is sponsored by:
1) Block 15 (Esso,BP, Eni, Statoil)
2) Sonangol & ExxonMobil
3) Angola LNG
Everybody is welcome to attend this presentation. The talk will be in English. In close cooperation with the Viking Club, this event is offered free of charge. Beverages and snacks are sold at the Viking Bar which opens at 7:30 PM. Coupons must be purchased. For sale, traditional baskets hand woven and organic wild honey from Moxico, Angola natural medicine books and posters, a new children’s color illustrated storybook and a book about the Cuvalei Basin in southern Angola.
You can download a map showing the location of the Viking Club on our Join Us page here. The Viking Club is on the main floor of Predio Maianga, the former Swedish Building, at Rua Marien N”Guabi, No 118 in Maianga, across the street from the new Panela de Barro restaurant.
