---
title: "Tsessebe"
description: "Damaliscus lunatus — Mammals. Damaliscus lunatus is a large African antelope of the genus Damaliscus and subfamily Alcelaphinae in the family Bovidae, with a number of recognised geographic subspecies."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/tsessebe
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Tsessebe

> Damaliscus lunatus — Mammals. Damaliscus lunatus is a large African antelope of the genus Damaliscus and subfamily Alcelaphinae in the family Bovidae, with a number of recognised geographic subspecies.

- Scientific name: *Damaliscus lunatus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `savanna` (Savanna)
- iNaturalist observations: 3918
- Wikidata: [Q545071](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q545071)
- iNaturalist taxon: [42276](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/42276)

## Names

- en: Tsessebe
- de: Leierantilope
- es: Tsessebe
- fr: Damalisque
- nl: Lierantilope
- pl: Sasebi właściwy

## Countries with the most observations

KE (1222), TZ (795), ZA (700), BW (385), UG (296), RW (124), BJ (80), NA (62), ZM (30), ZW (23), TD (20), SS (12)

## Summary

Damaliscus lunatus is a large African antelope of the genus Damaliscus and subfamily Alcelaphinae in the family Bovidae, with a number of recognised geographic subspecies. Some authorities have split the different populations of the species into different species, although this is seen as controversial. Common names include topi, sassaby, tiang and tsessebe.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damaliscus_lunatus

## Photo

![Tsessebe](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/tsessebe/medium.jpg)

Photo: Simon Tonge · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8679112

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/tsessebe?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).