Palanca Negra Gigante
The Giant Black Palanca is the most beautiful African antelope. The fact that it exists only in Angola, and in scarce numbers, since the species is classified as seriously endangered (IUCN, 1996), is even more valuable than the beauty of its forms. Their hunting is strictly prohibited as a protective measure.
These beautiful animals lived in small herds of six to twelve individuals, frequenting the edges and the interior of open woods, close to the water and the meadows. But it was common to see them isolated or in couples.
The word Hippotrágus derives from the agglutination of the Latinized Greek terms "hippo" (meaning horse) and tragus (meaning goat or antelope). Although it has nothing to do with any perissodactyl (horse family), this antelope has a long and full tail, an erect summit, long, pointed ears and abroad, nearly vertical neck, which effectively resemble the profile of an equine.
A herd of black levers, on the edges of the forests that they frequent, is one of the most beautiful paintings that one can admire in Angola. After 20 years without being seen, the giant black lever was rediscovered in 2005 in the kuando-kubango.
In the past, black lever horns were used as a decorative ornament. Extraordinarily long and robust, they reach more than one and a half meters in length, each forming a half-circumference by its curvature.
Currently, players of the Angolan soccer team are known as "Os Palancas Negras"