662 



EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



should be remedied without delay. Some are preserved on the De Beers 

 Company's property in Griqualand West; but I understand that one estate 

 in the Kroonstad district, where there were a large number, has recently 

 come into the market owing to the demise of the owner, and in such ways 

 the animal may become exterminated should new owners not care to pre- 

 serve it. It may be stated that such peculiar and rare types are worth a 

 hundred times more than domestic cattle, and if ever there were a need for 

 protecting relict types this is one of the greatest. 



"A few recently introduced into the Somerville Reserve, Orange 

 Free State . 



FIG. 61. White-tailed Gnu (Connochaetes gnou) 



"Apparently only a few hundred in existence. Should receive 

 careful legislative protection, otherwise its numbers may dwindle to 

 a dangerous degree." (G. C. Shortridge, in litt., October 14, 1937.) 



While it is not indigenous to Natal, there are at present a few 

 specimens on private farms in northern Natal, where they are 

 rigidly protected by the owners (Administrator's Office, Natal, in 

 Hit., December, 1936) . 



There are about eighty animals on the De Beers Farm south of 

 Kimberley. Those on farms in the Kroonstad and Odendaalsrust 

 districts of Orange Free State suffered very heavily during the 

 severe drought of 1933. (R. Bigalke, in litt., October, 1936.) 



As a Class B species, the White-tailed Gnu is accorded partial 

 protection under the London Convention of 1933. 



