WILDEBEEST AND HARTEBEEST 403 



Kenia Lelwel Hartebeest 

 Bubalis lelwel kenia 

 Bubalis lelwel kenia Heller, 1913, Smith. Misc. Coll., vol. 61, No. 17, p. 3. 



Range. — From the plateau region north of Kenia west- 

 ward across the Laikipia Plateau to Lake Baringo. 



The Kenia lelwel was very recently described from a 

 specimen shot by Paul J. Rainey on the plateau region 

 north of Kenia some twenty miles northeast of the station 

 of Nyeri. The hartebeest inhabiting the north Kenia 

 Plateau is distinguishable from jacksoni by decidedly wider- 

 spread horns, shorter horn pedicle, and by somewhat lighter 

 coloration. From the Coke hartebeest, which it resembles 

 in shade of coloration, it is at once distinguishable by its 

 V-shaped horns, longer head, and larger body size. This 

 race is confined to the plateau region flanking Mount Kenia 

 on the north and drained by the Northern Guaso Nyiro 

 River. It represents the extreme western range of the 

 lelwel type of hartebeest. A. H. Neumann, in his "Ele- 

 phant Hunting in East Africa," mentions shooting this 

 type of hartebeest on the southwestern slopes of the Lorogi 

 Mountains. This locality, no doubt, represents the northern 

 limit of the range. Westward it connects with typical 

 jacksoni in the region west of Lake Baringo. It occurs in 

 very limited numbers, is exceedingly wary, and is seldom 

 secured by sportsmen. 



The type, which is an adult male, measured in the flesh, 

 in length of head and body along the curve of the back, 

 78 inches; tail, 22^4 inches; hind foot, 2iy^ inches; ear, 

 y}4 inches. The skull has a length of 19^2 inches. The 

 horn pedicle has a least width of three-fourths its length from 

 the orbit to the forking of the horns and is much wider than 

 in other races of lelwel, in which the width is only two-thirds 

 the length. The dimensions of the horns in this specimen 

 are 2iyi inches in length by io>^ inches in spread at the 

 tips. Besides the type there is a younger male from the 

 same district, also collected by the Rainey expedition. This 

 specimen is very much lighter in color but agrees with the 

 type in the size and shape of its horns and horn pedicle. 



