Angola nearly lost its national animal to poaching. Here’s how a team of dedicated conservationists brought it back

(CNN) — With its long, ridged horns and muscular build, the giant sable antelope is a majestic sight — and a rare one at that.

This particular antelope, endemic only to Angola, in southwest Africa, is critically endangered, with a population of just a few hundred.

While its situation is still precarious, the giant sable is a story of conservation success — bringing an almost extinct animal back from the brink.

The disappearance of the giant sable

The giant sable antelope was first discovered in the early 20th century and went on to become Angola’s national animal. However, due to their striking horns, the antelopes soon became a target for poachers, says renowned Angolan conservationist Pedro Vaz Pinto.

In 1975, their prospects took a turn for the worse when a civil war broke out in Angola following its independence from Portugal. Over the next 27 years, the conflict devastated the country’s wildlife and the giant sable was no exception.

The war led to intensive poaching for the animal’s meat and horns. Habitat loss, and a lack of conservation measures, exacerbated the problem.

“Initially, no one really knew if the giant sable had survived the civil war,” says Vaz Pinto.

A biologist with a passion for wildlife and a background in field research throughout Africa, Vaz Pinto first became interested in the plight of the giant sable simply because no one else was looking into the matter, he tells CNN.

“It took years until I finally was completely drawn into it, and then there was no turning back,” he says.

Reconnaissance mission

In 2003, after the war had ended, Vaz Pinto organized a small team to investigate whether any giant sables remained.

They took a van and drove through Cangandala National Park, in the north of the country, where locals had reported sightings. There, the team set up cameras throughout the 630-square-kilometer (240-square-mile) area.

A year later, their photos would prove that a small population did exist. However, as Vaz Pinto would later come to find out, they were all female.

“It took a while to actually sink in and accept the reality of what was happening; this was extinction, an extinction vortex, taking place in front of our eyes,” he says.

“We needed a bull.”

Recovery operation

Soon after, Vaz Pinto established the Giant Sable Conservation Project to begin protecting the species and boosting its population.

With no evidence, only a hunch, Vaz Pinto and his team traveled to Luando Integral Nature Reserve, a remote, biodiverse habitat where giant sable antelopes were previously known to live.

In 2009, through DNA collected via dung samples, they identified that at least one bull lived in the reserve. Vaz Pinto and his team loaded into a helicopter to begin their search, deciding to zero in on where the sample was collected.

“As we are moving towards the spot, there’s a giant sable bull standing there at the very same spot,” he recalls. “So that was just like magic, and then in the subsequent days, we found, like, six more bulls.”

One of the bulls was transported back to Cangandala via helicopter and placed in a fenced sanctuary with the females to help revive the population.

Still endangered

Today, the sanctuary in Cangandala has a population of about 100 animals, Vaz Pinto says, which is still growing. His team also monitors the wild roaming population left in Luando through GPS collars and drones.

“The area is still under a tremendous poaching pressure,” Vaz Pinto says. “We have five sable herds left, so we try to keep them with an active GPS collar all the time so we can provide some protection to that area.”

Before Angola’s independence, the giant sable population was estimated to be around 2,000 to 2,500 animals. Restoring it to that level will take time.

“I think we could set up a short to medium term objective of getting the animals back to 500, and maybe in the medium term to long term to 1,000, 1,500,” says Vaz Pinto.

He is proud to say they have brought the animal back from the brink of extinction, but he remains cautiously optimistic about its status. “It’s undeniable that we have made a lot of progress, but if we stop, if we do nothing, it can all go down.”

Environmental education

Vaz Pinto is also the director at the Kissama Foundation, an NGO that focuses on wildlife conservation and environmental education across the country. His colleague Vladimir Russo says teaching local people and younger generations about the importance of wildlife is a key part to helping conserve not just the giant sable, but all species.

“We really try to raise awareness (through) workshops, work with the communities, different institutions, (and we) produce a number of materials from posters, flyers, books and games,” Russo says.

Vaz Pinto would love to give every Angolan an opportunity to see a giant sable up close.

“It’s a very powerful experience and I can see people change after that.They become enormously more in tune with the need to protect the antelope and (understand) the environmental efforts that we are doing,” he says.

Going forward, he believes management, funding, and training are necessary to continue restoring the giant sable population.

“It’s a bit of a rollercoaster, lots of setbacks, but lots and lots of achievements as well,” he says. “I really hope that what we’re doing with the giant sable is replicated at the larger scale for the whole country.”

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