300 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



but average proportions, has the lower tusks 7 inches in 

 diameter. Specimens of the East Africa race have been 

 examined from Lakes Naivasha, Elmentaita, and Baringo 

 of the Rift Valley, and from the Athi River of the coast 

 drainage. The East African hippopotamus is most abundant 

 in the upper course of the Tana River, from the vicinity 

 of Fort Hall down as far as Karo-karo. The lower stretches 

 of the river have been depleted of hippopotamus by the 

 Wapokomo tribe, who hunt them for their flesh. They are, 

 however, found in all the rivers having pools deep enough 

 to afford them shelter, and are also found along the sea- 

 coast in marshes. They occur everywhere in the desert, 

 in lakes such as Lake Rudolf, and the Lorian Swamp, where 

 the shore conditions are often quite arid. In British East 

 Africa they occur on the high plateaux, in ponds or swamps, 

 to a height of 8,000 feet at least. Only the highest moun- 

 tain ranges seem to form barriers to their migration or dis- 

 persal. 



