ANTELOPES OF EAST AFRICA 



It is easy to hunt the gnu in parts of the country 

 into which Europeans have not yet penetrated. The 

 herd bull will allow the hunter to approach w4thin a 

 few hundred feet before he runs aw^ay, performing curi- 

 ous antics. Very old males are often found singly or 

 in parties of two or three, having apparently been 

 driven from the herds by the younger bulls. I have 

 seen such old bulls whose heads were completely white 

 with age. 



While the pace of the gnu is considerable, it does not 

 proceed very fast when running away, as the animal 

 frequently stops to watch the pursuer with curiosity, 

 and displays peculiar antics, prancing and darting 

 around in all directions. Some observers believe that 

 these antics are caused by the presence of larvse of the 

 bot-fly, but as these animals indulge in the same antics 

 in captivity, I am convinced that they are prompted 

 by mere playfulness and not by annoying larvae. I 

 could not find any in the dead bodies of the gnus 

 that I had brought to my estate in Germany. These 

 antics may partly be accounted for by the fact that in 

 the breeding season the bulls of the same herd become 

 fierce, vicious, and pugnacious. 



I have found, however, in the stomach of gnus killed 

 in the wilderness, a new kind of oestrus larvae, and I am 

 curious to know whether others have discovered the 

 same. 



In the wilderness the behavior of the gnu towards 

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