860 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



In a pair measuring three feet five inches in a straight line, the length along the 



curve was five feet four inches. 



The geographical range of the kudus extend from the Cape to the 

 Distribution Abyssinian highlands, embracing all Eastern Africa and extending 

 westward to Angola. Some years ago Mr. Selous stated that a few kudus still lin- 



gered in the Cape Colony, 

 while in Griqualand West they 

 were not uncommon. From 

 the Limpopo to the Zambezi 

 they were at that time abundant, 

 and Mr. Crawshay records them 

 as distributed all over Nyassa- 

 land. In the Kilima-Njaro 

 district they appear to be rare. 

 Mr. Selous states that the kudu 

 is usually partial to hilly coun- 

 try covered with dense thickets; 

 but hills are by no means neces- 

 sary to its existence, as it is 

 common in the thick bush 

 along both banks of the river 

 Chobe, where there are no hills 

 whatever, and it is also plentiful 

 in the wait-a-bit thorn jungles 

 on the Lower Molapo, just on 

 the edge of the flat and sandy 

 Kalahari desert. In Nyassaland 

 they are never found far away 

 from the hills. Mr. Crawshay 

 states that kudus are fond of 

 browsing on the young and 

 tender shoots of trees and 



shrubs, especially in the dry season, when the grass has been burnt off, and has not 

 had time to grow. When alarmed, kudus sometimes give vent to a low bark, but 

 this is only audible at close quarters. 



Kudus are generally found in pairs or in small parties. Their speed 

 is not great; but owing to the circumstance that when disturbed they 

 invariably make for the roughest ground, while the districts they haunt are fre- 

 quently infested with the tsetse fly, it is but seldom that they can be hunted on 

 horseback. With dogs, however, they afford excellent sport; and Mr. Drummond 

 gives the following graphic account of two bull kudus brought to bay by a pack of 

 Kaffir dogs. " My eyes," writes Mr. Drummond, "were fixed upon the river, for 

 there, on a small sandbank, stood the two noble kudus bulls at bay. Two or three 

 dogs had also gained a footing, and made the air ring with their sharp barking, 

 re-echoed back again and again by the precipice on which I stood; while several more 



HEAD. OF KUDU. 

 (After Nicolls and Eglington.) 



Habits 



