Game Animals of India, etc. 



THE CHIRU, OR TIBETAN ANTELOPE 



{Pantholops hodgsoni) 



Native Names. — Tsus (male), Chus (female), Chiru 

 AND Chuhu^ Tibetan 



(Plate v, fig. 4) 



Most fabulous animals appear to have a living 

 prototype, and there seems considerable probability 

 that the present species may be the one to which the 

 legend of the unicorn owes its origin. At any rate this 

 was the opinion of Brian Hodgson, to whom we are 

 indebted for first making known the chiru, and who 

 gave it the name of Pantholops^ as being an ancient title 

 of the unicorn. There has long been a tradition to 

 the effect that the unicorn came from Tibet, and the 

 long slender horns of the chiru, if seen in profile, 

 might give rise to the idea of a unicorned animal. 

 It is further remarkable that in Tibet itself there still 

 exists a belief in the existence of a unicorn, even in 

 districts where the chiru itself is a familiar animal. 

 Possibly, as General Macintyre suggests in The Hindu- 

 Koh^ the legend may be based on a chiru that had lost 

 one horn. 



Whatever may be its relation to the fabled unicorn, 

 the chiru is an interesting and peculiar member of the 

 antelope tribe. As shown by the structure of its skull 

 and teeth, it belongs to the same group as the blackbuck 

 and the gazelles, although its nearest relative appears to 

 be the saiga of the Russian steppes. A male chiru 

 stands from about 31 to 33 inches at the shoulder, and 

 is distinguishable from all other antelopes by the long, 

 erect, slightly curved, and sub-lyrate black horns, puf^^ 

 nose, hairy muzzle, thick coat of soft and almost woolly 

 hair, and short bushy tail. The pufTiness of the nose is 

 due to a protuberance situated by the side of each 

 nostril, which marks the position of a large lateral 



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