NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



the males rarely kill or even seriously wound one 

 another. The enormous horns, beyond giving the 

 male a majestic appearance, are not of great use to 

 the animal. When alarmed, the Kudu, like the 

 Bushbuck and Inyala, always prefer to go under 

 rather than over obstacles in its path, the evident 

 desire being to endeavour to escape observation as 

 much as possible. 



These antelopes migrate regularly to and from 

 their winter and summer feeding grounds, and do 

 not wander permanently to distant localities, except 

 when persecuted. 



The terrible cattle plague known as Rinderpest 

 killed off large numbers of Kudus, which were 

 highly susceptible to it, and for a year or two 

 afterwards their skeletons were frequently found. 

 A friend came across three skulls of old males, bearing 

 magnificent horns, when this plague was raging 

 through the country. 



The hide of the Kudu, though unusually thin, 

 is very tough, and is in great demand by colonists 

 for making harness and reins. A friend has a set 

 of Kudu harness which has been in use for over 

 twenty years, and to-day it is as strong and good as 

 when he made it. 



The flesh of this antelope is most excellent eating, 

 and the marrow in the bones is delicious. 



The female is hornless, although on rare occasions 

 stunted abnormal horns have been observed on 

 them. 



132 



