The Takin 



THE TAKIN 



{Budorcas taxicolor) 



Native Names. — Takin^ Mishmi Hills ; Te-more^ 

 Eastern Tibet 



(Plate v, figs. i^\a) 



At the present day there are comparatively few 

 animals coming under the designation of big game 

 that have not fallen to the rifle of the British sports- 

 man ; but the strange-looking ruminant known to the 

 natives of the Mishmi Hills, on the northern frontier 

 of Assam, as the takin was till recently an exception 

 to this rule. This seems the more strange seeing: that 

 the Mishmi Hills lie within sight of British territory ; 

 they are, however, at ordinary times closed to British 

 sportsmen. It is true that the first known specimens 

 of the takin were obtained by Brian Hodgson (who 

 described the animal) while British Resident at 

 Katmandu ; but these were procured by the aid of 

 native explorers. 



The takin is a clumsily -built ruminant, standing 

 about as high as a small mule, the height at the withers 

 being approximately 3^ feet. The most striking feature 

 of the adult is formed by the sharply angulated blackish 

 horns which are present in both sexes, although de- 

 cidedly smaller in ewes than in rams. In the young 

 they form simple spikes, which in the full-grown animals 

 constitute that portion above the bend. Very charac- 

 teristic of the animal is the highly arched region of the 

 nose, or chafron, which is specially conspicuous in the 

 skull. The muzzle resembles that of goats and sheep 

 in being vertically grooved, and covered with hair 

 except on one small spot ; the ears are very small and 

 almost quadrangular ; the tail is little more than a 

 stump ; and the limbs are very short and thick, with 



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