The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
“The Lesser Koodoo is found in thick jungles of the larger kind of
thorn-tree, especially where there is an undergrowth of the _hig_
or slender-pointed aloe, which is of a light green colour and
grows from four to six feet high. This Antelope may also be found
hiding in dense thickets of tamarisk in the river-beds. It is not
met with in the open grass plains, and I have never seen one in
the cedar-forests on the top of the Gólis. Its favourite haunts
used to be along the foot of this range, and I do not think its
numbers have been much diminished of late years. By far the best
Lesser-Koodoo ground I have ever visited is the thick forest on
the banks of the Webbe, near Imé and Karanleh. These Webbe
specimens are different from those found under Gólis, as they are
smaller, have shorter horns, are still more brilliantly marked,
and have hoofs nearly twice as long. The hoofs of a Webbe Lesser
Koodoo are, like those of a Webbe Bushbuck, of extraordinary
length.
“The Lesser Koodoo likes to be near water, and, living as it does
amongst the densest thickets, has its ears wonderfully well
developed. It has powerful hind-quarters, and is a strong leaper,
the white bushy tail flashing over the aloe-clumps as it takes
them in great bounds. They are very cunning, and will stand quite
still on the farther side of a thicket listening to the advancing
trackers, then a slight rustle is heard as they gallop away. The
best way to get a specimen is to follow the fresh tracks of a
buck, the sportsman advancing in a direction parallel with that of
the tracker, but some fifty yards to one flank and in advance; a
snap-shot may then be got as the Koodoo bounds out of the farther
side of a thicket, but you may be months in the country before
getting a really good buck. They go in herds of about the same
number as do the Greater Koodoos. Old bucks are nearly black and
the horns become smooth by rubbing against trees; and scars of all
sorts remain on the neck, being the result of wild rushes through
the jungle and fights with other bucks. The average length of a
good buck’s horns is about 25 inches from base to tip. The longest
I have shot or seen was between 27 and 28 inches in length in a
straight line. The horns are very sharp, but I have never seen a
Lesser Koodoo attempt to charge.”
Lt.-Col. H. O. Olivier, R.E., who has lately made a short hunting-tour
in Somaliland, sends us the following field-notes on the Lesser Kudu:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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