Somali Wild Ass 71 



I only shot one, a female. She had a black stripe on each shoulder. Neither 

 stripe was complete, and did not extend to the withers. The stripe on the 

 off side was the most conspicuous. The dorsal line, a well-marked one, 

 extended from the tail to half-way up the back. The general colour of 

 the ass is a French gray. The legs are handsomely marked with hori- 

 zontal black stripes ; those above the fetlocks do not extend completely 

 round the leg, but are, in the fore-legs, on the outside and front of the leg ; 

 those on the hind-legs are on the outside and back of the leg. At the 

 fetlocks there are black rings, almost, if not quite, complete. The mane, 

 which stands straight up, is black, with an outside fringe of sandy hair. 

 The tail has a black tuft. This ass is considerably larger than the tame 

 race, and is estimated by me to be about 14 hands high. The domestic 

 Somali ass in many cases has exactly the same black markings on its legs 

 as the wild one. The Somali wild ass is fairly common. I first met with 

 them about twenty miles to the south of Berbera, and they are also found 

 on the plateau to the south of the Golis range. They do not live on the 

 mountain ranges, but frequent the low stony hills in the desert. They go 

 in small herds. The largest I saw consisted of five. They are by no 

 means easy to stalk, and it is difficult to get near them. The only time I 

 ever got very near was when I had shot one, a very long shot ; the rest of 

 the herd, after running a short distance, stood looking at the dead one, and 

 let me approach within 60 yards of them before they bolted, although I 

 walked straight towards them without any concealment. Though I did 

 not wish to shoot more than one, I have occasionally stalked and watched 

 them ; they feed pretty wide apart from each other. The few I saw 

 with foals had only one young one. y q t nverakity 



