The book of antelopes, vol. 3 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 3 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
“In colour the Speke’s Gazelles are much darker than Pelzeln’s
Gazelles, the predominating colour in life being a rich
strong burnt-sienna buff, distinctly darker over the back.
The side-stripes are very dark brown, strongly marked, and
maintaining their depth of colour to the edge of the white under
the ribs and belly. The tail is a dark reddish brown, and the
colour on the quarters towards the tail is of a deeper shade.
The coat, though fine in texture, is very long for a Gazelle,
being sometimes fully two inches long on the withers, and the
stern is heavily feathered with long white hair. Altogether it
is one of the most beautifully coloured of all the Gazelles.
The head is also strongly marked, the deep dark brown patch
on the nose and the tear-mark sprinkled with dark hairs are
very distinctive. The enlargement of the nose is covered with
three or four folds of loose pliable skin. The horns are more
curved back and forward towards the tips than those of Pelzeln’s
Gazelle, and on the average do not reach to quite the same
length as in that species. Twelve inches along the curve would
be an abnormally long horn for _G. spekei_, whilst this
measurement is not uncommon in Pelzeln’s Gazelle. The female is
very slightly lighter in colour, and has weak horns, reaching
to about 9 inches in old ones, with slight indications of the
annulations, which are deep and strong in the male.
“This Gazelle I have observed in large numbers on both sides of
the Golis range. I have seen it in bands numbering from fifteen
to twenty on the plateaux behind (S. of) Gan Libah and Dunanoof.
In the Gadabursi country, on the northern limits of the Haud,
west of Lija Uri, I have seen them frequently in small bands
of from five to eight, and herds of this size may be said to
be the rule in the zone north of the Golis Range and south of
the Maritime Plain. I cannot call to mind having seen them much
further south than the grass plains of Toyo, but there I have
observed them mixed up with the Aoul or Soemmerring’s Gazelle.
“I should put down the height of this Gazelle at about 24
inches, and its weight, when living, at about 40 pounds.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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