THE BUSHBUCK 



will not tolerate another adult of their sex in their 

 neighbourhood. During the mating season they 

 fight in a most determined manner, and these 

 yearly conflicts for securing wives end in death to 

 considerable numbers of rams. I came upon a 

 helpless ram one day. He had been terribly gored, 

 and was gashed in a score of places. The game old 

 fellow made a vain endeavour to rise and charge 

 me. The ground and herbage around was trampled 

 and splashed with blood. 



The Bushbuck produces its young in the spring 

 and summer months, usually from the end of 

 September to about the end of the following Feb- 

 ruary. In the coastal parts of the eastern portion 

 of the Cape Province, if not elsewhere, the Bushbuck 

 breed all the year round. This is, no doubt, due 

 to the vegetation being in a green and succulent 

 condition at all times of the year. 



It will thus be seen that with this antelope, as 

 with others, the breeding times vary according to 

 the district and nature of the environment. 



During the daytime they lie in the thick bush, 

 usually on the fringes of the forests. When dis- 

 turbed they plunge into the innermost recesses of 

 their bushy home. 



The Bushbuck selects some particular haunt in a 

 quiet part of a forest, isolated clump of scrub, or 

 in the thick bush which so frequently grows along 

 the borders of streams. Here it makes its home, 

 emerging during the early mornings and evenings 



