THE INYALA 



many as a dozen docs and three or four adult rams 

 are occasionally seen together in the Game Reserves 

 of Zululand, which are the headquarters of the 

 Inyala. 



In districts outside these Reserves, the Inyala is 

 becoming scarcer every year. They are still fairly 

 abundant along the wooded banks of the Sabi River 

 in Portuguese East Africa. The horns of the male 

 Inyala are in great request, and the flesh of both 

 sexes is highly esteemed. 



These antelope feed upon the bean-pods of acacia 

 trees, leaves, tender shoots, wild fruits, berries and 

 young, tender grass. The sections of the forest 

 selected by the Inyala for its home are those portions 

 which are very dense, with an abundance of tangled 

 undergrowth. Like their relative the Bushbuck, 

 they are nocturnal, resting during the daylight 

 hours and issuing forth at night. 



The principal mating time is in April. A single 

 young one is produced at a birth, once annually, 

 usually during the months of September and 

 October, although some are born as early as August, 

 and a few during the summer and autumn months 

 until as late as March. 



The call of the Inyala is a hoarse, deep bark 

 like that of the Bushbuck, but louder and more 

 intense. 



Although its home is the dark, dense, thorny 

 tangle, which apparently no animal other than a 

 comparatively small one could creep or run through, 



123 



