ORDER ARTIODACTYLA : EVEN -TOED UNGULATES 659 



from about Massa Bubu on the Tana, downstream to within some forty miles 

 of the coast, the zone runs for about one hundred and twenty miles, first 

 north-easterly and then northward. Within this area they are fairly numerous, 

 being found in herds of from half a dozen to forty or more, though it is 

 uncommon to see more than twenty together. . . . 



Lions are their chief enemy, though doubtless Leopards and Wild Dogs 

 kill a few. Fortunately the Somali do not, I think, kill them at all; and their 

 wildness cannot be attributed to human molestation. 



"Very few are ever shot owing to its habitat . . . being so remote 

 and only one is allowed on a full licence" (P. W. Whetham, in Hit., 

 March 8, 1933) . 



"Have been very difficult to reach in former times, but now their 

 country can be approached by car" (Maydon, 1933, p. 738) . 



The range is said to extend from the Tana River to Lak Dera in 

 Jubaland, about 160 miles (Prentiss N. Gray, MS.) . 



From the report of the Committee of Experts (1938, p. 12), we 

 read: 



Another case of a species of a highly restricted distribution is the Hirola, 

 or Hunter's Hartebeest, . . . which occurs only between the southern border 

 of Somaliland (both British and Italian) and the north bank of the Tana 

 River. To some extent, this species enjoys a natural protection owing to the 

 inaccessibility of its habitat, but with the constant improvement in com- 

 munications, it cannot be doubted that the stock of this species will decrease 

 unless protective measures are adopted. We are glad to note the assurance 

 of the Italian Representative that special consideration will be given by the 

 Italian authorities to the possibility of affording a regime of protection to 

 this species as soon as the Italian Government receives the report of the East 

 African Scientific Mission .... The United Kingdom Representatives also 

 have undertaken to give careful consideration to this matter before the next 

 meeting of the Conference. 



White-tailed Gnu; Black Wildebeest, /wart Wildebeest 

 (Cape Dutch) 



CONNOCHAETES GNOU (Zimmermann) 



Bos Gnou Zimmermann, Spec. Zool. Geogr., p. 372, 1777. (Interior of Africa, 

 between Cape of Good Hope and Tropic of Cancer; type locality re- 

 stricted by Harper (1940, p. 329) to the "Colesberg district of the Cape 

 Province.") 



FIGS.: Buffon, Hist. Nat., suppl., vol. 6, pis. 8-9, 1782; Harris, 1840, pi. 1; 

 Millais, 1895, pis. facing pp. 220, 226, figs, on pp. 222-228, 231; Sclater 

 and Thomas, 1895, vol. 1, pi. 12, pp. 115-116, figs. 15, 15a; Bryden, 1899, 

 pi. 3, fig. 6, p. 209, fig. 26; W. L. Sclater, 1900, vol. 1, p. 149, fig. 44; 

 Elliot, 1907, p. 59, fig. 13; Lydekker, 1908, pi. 3, fig. 6, p. 131, fig. 35; 

 Lydekker and Elaine, 1914, vol. 2, p. 49, fig. 8; Selous, 1914, pi. 11; May- 

 don, 1932, pi. 109; Ward, 1935, p. 78, fig.; Field Mus. News, vol. 8, no. 2, 

 p. 1, fig, 1937; Pocock, 1937, p. 664, fig.; Leister, 1938, p. 78, fig. A. 



"The Black Wildebeest is extinct in a wild state. There appears 

 to be a fair number of semi-protected herds on farms in the Trans- 

 vaal and the Orange Free State." (Shortridge, 1934, p. 463.) 



