318 RECORDS OF BIG GAME 
The KUDU (Strepsiceros capensis). 
Agarzin, Abyssinian. Kudu, Hottentot. 
Tbala-bala, Amandebili. Ngomo, Chilala and Chibisa. 
[-zilarwa, Makalaka. Voro, Mashona. 
Dwar, Masara. Tata, M’ Kua. 
Godir, Somali. Yolo, Bechuana, Barotsi, and 
Itolo, Basuto. Ngami. 
[tshongonons, Swazi. Unza, Mazubia. 
Muztloua, Batonga. Unzwa, Makuba. 
Shombololo, Chila. 
Although rather less brilliantly coloured than some of the bush- 
buck, the two kudus are among the handsomest of all antelopes, their 
spiral horns, striped coat, and noble carriage rendering them really mag- 
nificent creatures. Their chief difference from the bushbucks is to be 
found in the fuller spiral formed by the horns and the larger ears, both 
sexes being nearly similar in colour. ‘The special characteristics of the 
greater or true kudu are the large size (height at shoulder reaching to 
4 feet 10 inches or 5 feet), the presence of a thick fringe of long hair 
on the throat, and the open spiral of the horns of the bull. The colour 
is too well known to require description. The Somali kudu (S. c. chora) 
differs from the typical southern form in having only about five trans- 
verse stripes instead of the usual nine or ten. 
Distribution—The kudu, in suitable localities, ranges over the greater 
part of Africa south of the Sahara, extending from Abyssinia and 
Somaliland through East and Central Africa to the Cape, and west- 
ward across the continent to Angola, where the Congo apparently 
forms its northern limits. In spite of its bulk, it is an adept at 
concealment ; and this trait, coupled with its general wariness and 
acute sense of smell and hearing, has largely contributed to its sur- 
vival in districts where it is much hunted. Except in the Uitenhage 
jungles, where it is preserved by British farmers, the kudu has 
been exterminated from Cape Colony. In Eastern Mashonaland 
it is still abundant, as it is in the highlands of Somaliland, in which 
country it is rarely met with on the plains. The Somali form 
inhabits less thickly wooded country than the southern race, and 
it is in accordance with this that it has fewer stripes. 
Although unrivalled at traversing rocky hills, the kudu is by 
no means a good performer on the flat (where it seldom allows itself 
to be surprised), and can be ridden down without much difficulty 
by a fairly well-mounted hunter. Horned females occur rarely. 
