392 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



or hazel. In central German East Africa, south of the 

 Pangani River, the Coke hartebeest meets the range of the 

 very distinct Lichtenstein hartebeest, but the two species 

 are not known to be associated together in the same local- 

 ities. 



Flesh measurements of specimens are not available. 

 The largest male specimen collected by Doctor Abbott at 

 Taveta measured 17^ inches in skull length, i6}4 inches 

 in length of horns on the outside curve, and 13 inches in 

 spread at the tips. The individual variation, however, is 

 great, both in horn shape and in size of skull or body size, 

 so that the recognition of the race must be based on average 

 differences. On the plains at the base of Kilimanjaro they 

 are very abundant, but in the low deserts of Taru and Taita 

 they are far from common. Hunter has reported them as 

 far north as the Tana River. 



KoNGONi Hartebeest 



Bubalis cokei kongoni 



Native Names: Swahili, kongoni; Kikuyu, ngonde; Masai, olsorikor. 

 Bubalis cokei kongoni Heller, 191 2, Smith. Misc. Coll., vol. 60, No. 8, p. 5. 



Range. — Highlands of British East Africa from the 

 slopes of Mount Kenia and Lake Naivasha southward and 

 westward to the southern shores of the Victoria Nyanza 

 and northwestern German East Africa. 



The hartebeest inhabiting the Loita Plains district of 

 British East Africa was described as a new race under the 

 name kongoni in 191 2 from a specimen shot by Colonel 

 Roosevelt. Sportsmen have generally considered the harte- 

 beest of the highlands as indistinguishable from cokei of 

 the coast lowlands owing to the great individual variation 

 in horn shape and size of head in this group of antelopes. 

 The kongoni, however, is decidedly a larger animal with 

 lighter dorsal coloration. The coloration is more purely 

 buffy, with very little of the reddish suffusion except on the 

 crown and snout, which is tawny, very seldom being as 

 dark as the cinnamon-rufous of the typical cokei. 



The dorsal coloration is uniform tawny-ochraceous, be- 

 coming on the lower sides, the rump, and hind quarters 



