NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



but the males on developing into the fully adult 

 condition usually become vicious and more or less 

 unmanageable. Even when taken into captivity 

 at the age of a few months the males should not 

 be trusted after they are fully adult. One which 

 I had in captivity was as quiet and docile as a sheep, 

 but one day without provocation it savagely attacked 

 me, and was afterwards most erratic in its behaviour. 



The height at the shoulder of an adult male 

 varies from 2| to 3 feet, and the weight ranges from 

 100 to 170 lbs. 



The Bushbuck varies more or less in coloration 

 throughout its extensive habitat, and is, in conse- 

 quence, separated into several local races or sub- 

 species. Even in the same district the colour and 

 markings often differ more or less. The typical 

 species and local races inhabiting South Africa 

 south of the Zambesi are the following : 



(i) The Harnessed Bushbuck {Tragelaphus scriptus 

 scriptus) inhabits Africa from the neighbourhood 

 of the Zambesi up the western side, and also South- 

 Central and Central Africa. It is the typical species. 

 The prevailing colour is bright rufous in the male, 

 dotted over with a considerable number of con- 

 spicuous white spots, and transverse and longitudinal 

 stripes of the same colour, and a blackish mane is 

 present on the chest. 



(2) The Cape Bushbuck {Tragelaphus scriptus 

 sylvaticus) is the local race which inhabits the Cape 

 Province, Natal and Zululand. The adult male is 



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