ANTELOPES 



THE TORA HARTEBEEST 



(Bubalis tora] 



Titel, ARABIC ; Tora OR Woroba, ABYSSINIAN ; Tori, TlGRE 

 (PLATE iv, fig. 3) 



With this species we come to a group in which the horn-pedicle 

 is of medium height, while the horns themselves spread outwards in 

 the form of an inverted bracket (' , '). In height the tora stands 

 from about 48 to 54 inches at the withers; while in colour it is pale 

 yellowish tawny, with the chin and tail-tuft black. The weight ranges 

 from 300 to 400 Ib. ; and the record horn-length is 22^ inches. 



This hartebeest was first mentioned by the Austrian naturalist 

 Heuglin in 1863, by whom, however, it was confounded with the 

 bubal ; and it was not recognised as a distinct species till 1873, when 

 it was named by Dr. Gray. In the Book of Antelopes (Sclater and 

 Thomas) Upper Nubia and Kordofan are included in its distributional 

 area ; but according to the Hon. Walter Rothschild a the species is 

 restricted to Abyssinia and the southern part of the Blue Nile basin. 



The representative of the tora from Rahat and thence to the 

 middle portion of the valley of the Blue Nile was separated in 1906 

 by Mr. O. Neumann as Bubalis tora rahatensis, on account of a differ- 

 ence in the horns. In the Blue Nile race, as compared with the typical 

 form, the horns are less distinctly bracket-shaped, and incline inwards 

 at the bend nearly at a right angle. In the typical race they have 

 little inward inclination, but are directed mainly backwards, and in a 

 front view form an obtuse angle at the bend. 



Mr. Neumann's original description will be found in the German 

 serial known as Sitzungs-Berichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender 

 Freundetor 1906, p. 246. 



In habits this species is probably identical with, or at all events 

 very close to, the next. 



In the valley of the White Nile the Blue Nile race is believed by 

 its describer to interbreed with B. lelwel niedecki (fig. 32, p. 108), a 

 head from Djebel Achmed Agha, on the White Nile, being referred to 

 such a hybrid. 



1 Appendix to Powell-Cotton's Sporting Trip through Abyssinia. 



