The bluebuck was the large South African antelope hunted to extinction around 1800. Also called the blue antelope or bloubok, it belonged to the species Hippotragus leucophaeus and lived in the grasslands of the Cape region, especially around the Overberg and Swellendam.
The bluebuck was smaller than its close relatives, the roan antelope and sable antelope. Its name refers to the bluish appearance reported in historical descriptions, although the blue color of surviving museum skins can be exaggerated by lighting and preservation. Very few firsthand descriptions were made while the animal was alive, so some old illustrations were based on mounted specimens rather than direct observation.
European settlement and hunting were decisive in its final decline. The species already appears to have had a restricted range and low genetic diversity, possibly because earlier environmental changes had reduced its grassland habitat. By 1774 it was considered increasingly rare. The last bluebuck was probably shot in 1799 or 1800, making it the first historically recorded large African mammal to become extinct. Only four confirmed mounted skins survive, held in museums in Leiden, Stockholm, Vienna, and Paris.