HABITAT SELECTION OF A ROAN ANTELOPE (HIPPOTRAGUS-EQUINUS) POPULATIONIN MIXED BUSHVELD, NYLSVLEI NATURE-RESERVE

The distribution of social groups of a roan antelope population was mo nitored once a month over a period of two years. Differences in habita t selection between seasons and between social groups were tested with the Chi-square test and correspondence analysis. The Aristida biparti ta - Setaria sphacelata Grassland Variation, Tristachya rehmannii - Di gitaria monodactyla Variation (adjacent to the Burkea Savanna), the ea stern pocket of the Rhus leptodictya - Combretum apiculatum Variation and to some extent the Eragrostis nindensis - Digitaria monodactyla Va riation were selected by the breeding herd during winter. In summer th e most selected areas for the breeding herd were the lower floodplain and the Eragrostis pallens - Burkea africana Savanna (eastern section) . Bachelor males were spatially segregated from the breeding herds, wh ere they selected the Cymbopogon plurinodis - Combretum apiculatum Var iation and the floodplain during winter, In summer males selected the floodplain. Newly burnt areas were attractive for roan antelope. Howev er similar spatial segregations between social groups as found in non- burnt areas could still be observed in newly burnt areas.