Savanna woodlands and grasslands, and the bushveld and lowveld of southern Africa, with the cover of high grasses and woody plants playing an important role for both grazing and calving (Chardonnet and Crosmary 2013). A water-dependent grazer/browser.

The Roan Antelope formerly occurred very widely in the savanna woodlands and grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa, but has been eliminated from large parts of its former range. The species remains locally common in West and Central Africa, while in East and southern Africa, the traditional antelope strongholds, the species is now more rare. The species is now locally extinct in Burundi, Eritrea and possibly Gambia. It was also eliminated from Swaziland and later reintroduced to the privately owned Mkhaya Nature Reserve (Monadjem 1998).

At present, about 60% of the species’ total population occurs in protected areas (Chardonnet and Crosmary 2013). The largest surviving populations occur in areas such as Niokolo-Koba N.P. (Senegal), Comoé N.P. (Côte d'Ivoire), Arly-Singou N.P. and Nazinga G.R. (Burkina Faso), Mole N.P. (Ghana), Pendjari  N.P. (Benin), Waza N.P. and the national parks and hunting zones of North Province (Cameroon), Manovo-Gounda-St. Floris N.P. (Central African Republic), Moyowosi-Kigosi G.R. and Katavi-Rukwa N.P. (Tanzania), the national parks of the Luangwa Valley (Zambia), Nyika N.P. (Malawi) and northern Botswana. Most of these protected populations are stable or increasing but some, for example, in Comoé, Arly-Singou and Cameroon’s North Province, are in decline.

Roan have been reintroduced to parts of South Africa, including Marakele N.P. and introduced to KwaZulu-Natal (where there is no evidence they formerly occurred) in reserves such as Weenen N.R. and Karfloof N.R. (Rowe-Rowe 1994, Chardonnet and Crosmary 2013)