THE LEUCORYX ANTELOPE 147 



will feed from the hand ; but it must here be insisted 

 upon that all the larger antelopes when caged become 

 very dangerous pets, far different from the timid, 

 pretty creatures of popular imagination. " He is at 

 times very fierce " wrote Lord Derby of his first 

 male leucoryx ; and the late Mr. A. D. Bartlett once 

 said that he would rather go into a cage with a lion 

 than enter the enclosure of a certain species of gnu. 

 Similarly the leucoryx in the Berlin collection 

 has been described as " rowdy fellow," liable 

 when in a blind fury to attack even his consort. 

 The present writer well remembers the powerful and 

 savage sable antelope which in 1895-7 was one of 

 the chief attractions of Barnum and Bailey's show, and 

 how it struck at the iron bars of its waggon, 

 apparently in sheer viciousness. Perhaps in some 

 of these cases the beast develops a malevolent 

 disposition from sheer ennui, the distractions natural 

 to it in the wild state such as seeking its food, 

 taking sentry duty, running from its enemies, or 

 fighting with its rivals all being removed. In 

 others the animal perhaps attacks in self-defence, 

 being in an enclosed space whence there is no retreat, 

 and the fear of man being upon it. In any case it 

 should be noted that "changed by captivity" does 

 not invariably mean "tamed by captivity;' the 

 hippopotamus which some three years ago in a 

 Continental collection killed the keeper with whom 

 he was quite familiar is an instance of this. 



