[2] Common tsessebe are found in Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and South Africa.

[9] In the wild, tsessebe usually live a maximum of 15 years, but in some areas, their average lifespan is drastically decreased due to overhunting and the destruction of habitat.

Territorial behavior includes moving in an erect posture, high-stepping, defecating in a crouch stance, ground-horning, mud packing, shoulder-wiping, and grunting.

One such behavior is the habit of sleeping tsessebe to rest their mouths on the ground with their horns sticking straight up into the air.

Male tsessebe has also been observed standing in parallel ranks with their eyes closed, bobbing their heads back and forth.

Finally, the grouping of males provides females with a wider variety of mates to choose from, as they are all located in one central area.

William Cornwallis Harris, in his 1840 book about big game hunting, was quite familiar with the species in the Cashan Mountains and Kurrichane Hills, and renders the name as "sassaybe".

Other names for the antelope which were recorded by Frederick Selous around this time were inkweko in the language of the Masubians of the Caprivi Strip (related to Lozi), incolomo and incomazan in the isiNdebele of "Matebele", unchuru was the Sekuba name given by the Makuba of northern Botswana, inyundo by the Makalaka, and luchu or lechu by the Masaras.

[17] In the 2016 update to the Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho, the minimum South African population was estimated as 2,256–2,803 individuals, of which the total minimum mature population size was 1,353–1,962; this was believed to be a significant underestimate, due to not getting enough responses from private game reserves on time for publication.

[4] As of 2016, interspecific competition is believed to have played a primary role, with the decline in tsessebe being caused by the proliferation of other antelope species, which was itself due to the opening of man-made watering holes in the game parks.

[18] Initially an uncommon animal, in the 2000s the population on private game reserves in both South Africa and Zimbabwe, primarily stocked for the trophy hunting industry, began to grow quickly, with large jumps seen in the 2010s.

As a large percentage of these animals are found in wild conditions in their natural areas of distribution, this is seen as contributing to the recovery of the species in South Africa.

Nonetheless, there are some questions as to the potential danger of it hybridising with the also native red hartebeest which are common throughout its range, and with which hybrids have been recorded in both ranches and in National Parks.

[19] A study compared the situation with around Lake Rukwa in Tanzania in the 1950s, a paper about game populations and the elephant problem, which might create the open habitat required through their bulldozing behaviour.

[citation needed] Excess tsessebe can be bought from South African National Parks via game auctions under Section 55(2) (b) of the Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003.

[21][22] Tsessebe hides were formerly (1840) locally much in demand in South Africa to make a garment called a kobo, a type of leather mantle, both for the suppleness and the pleasing colour.