THE LESSER KUDU 

 Strepsiceros imberbis, Bly. 



Somali name, Godir, Arreh (male) 

 or Dar 'ad ,, 

 Aderyo (female) 



DESCRIPTION. This is undoubtedly the most beautiful of all 

 Somali antelopes. The general colour is a grey-brown, which 

 fades into a pale fawn on the legs. Immediately above the hoofs 

 on both the fore and hind legs is a whitish patch. The throat and 

 chest are black except for two patches of white on the former one, 

 the smaller, high up, the other a broad transverse bar of white 

 situated just above where the neck joins the chest. The head is of 

 the general body colour except from a line drawn between the 

 eyes to the nose, where it is black. The upper and lower lips 

 are white. There are two white spots one above the other on 

 each side, situated over the lower jaw, while two white streaks 

 pass directly downwards and inwards from the inner canthus of 

 each eye towards the middle line of the face. The ears are large 

 and well adapted for hearing in thick bush country. The fur on 

 the head and neck is very soft and fine, giving those parts a soft, 

 silky appearance. The tail is grey-brown above, white underneath, 

 with a brown-black tip. There is a longitudinal white stripe 

 running from the withers nearly to the root of the tail, and from 

 this spring numerous transverse white stripes which give this 

 antelope a singularly beautiful appearance. The stripes, as in the 

 Greater Kudu, are seldom equal in number on both sides. On an 

 adult male shot by me there were fourteen on the left side and 

 thirteen on the right. The last stripe is usually very indistinct on 

 both sides, while the second and third terminal stripes usually join 

 soon after they arise, and are continued as one stripe. Between 

 some of the stripes there are, as a rule, one or two spots or streaks. 

 According to Swayne, the specimens from the Webi Shebeleh 

 River are smaller and more brilliantly marked, and possess shorter 

 horns and elongated hoofs. 



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