ORDER CARNIVORA: CARNIVORES 279 



Plains, British East Africa"). Hollister (1918, p. 151) seems to be 

 somewhat doubtful as to the distinctness of these three East African 

 forms from each other, and De Beaux (1927, pp. 3-4) does not 

 recognize velox or raineyi. The Cheetahs of East Africa, from 

 Tanganyika north to Ethiopia and Eritrea, will be treated here 

 as a unit. This range corresponds roughly to the Somali Arid District 

 and the East African Highland District of Chapin (1932, p. 90), or 

 to the Somali Arid District, the North Kenya Savanna District, 

 and the East African Highland District of Bowen (1933, pp. 256, 

 258,260). 



The ground color of the living type specimen of ngorongorensis 

 was isabella yellow-brown; under parts very light isabella, entirely 

 without white; spotting of the lower neck very pronounced; cheeks 

 grayish, heavily spotted; back of the ear yellow, with a slender 

 black basal stripe; chin and lips white; chest and belly unspotted; 

 outer side of the limbs heavily spotted as far as the toes; tail with 

 three complete rings, tip yellowish white (Hilzheimer, 1913, p. 289) . 

 The coloration of this captive specimen may not have been typical. 



The following might serve as a composite characterization of velox 

 and raineyi: ground color ochraceous to light pinkish buff; spots 

 large, blackish; snout ochraceous to ochraceous-buff ; a black tear 

 stripe from eye to mouth; back of ears black basally, tip and inner 

 surface buff or pinkish buff; chin and upper throat white to cream- 

 buff ; belly cream to cream-buff, with elongate spots ; hind feet more 

 or less distinctly spotted; terminal part of tail ringed with black, 

 tip whitish (Heller, 1913, pp. 8-10). Head and body, 1,120-1,300 

 mm.; tail, 720-800 mm. '(Hollister, 1918, p. 154). 



In East Africa and in South-West Africa the Cheetah seems to 

 have survived in more satisfactory numbers than elsewhere in its 

 wide range. 



It occurs throughout Tanganyika Territory in varying numbers. 

 There is no danger of extinction at present. In five provinces out of 

 eight, only two Cheetahs may be killed on a Full Licence, and only 

 one on a Minor Licence. (Game Preservation Department, Tangan- 

 yika Territory, in litt., December, 1936.) It is "quite numerous in 

 Masailand" (Browne, in Maydon, 1932, p. 312). 



In Kenya the Cheetah is fairly common and generally distributed, 

 specimens being recorded from the Loita, Kapiti, and Athi Plains, 

 Laikipia and Uasin Gishu Plateaus, the flanks of Kilimanjaro, and 

 Upper Tana River (Roosevelt and Heller, 1914, pp. 244-249) . There 

 are fair numbers in the Southern and Northern Game Reserves (Per- 

 cival, 1923, pp. 69-71). There is a decrease in the Native Reserves 

 and in the European settled areas; otherwise it is fairly common, 

 and it is protected (Game Warden, Kenya, in litt, November, 1936) . 



