The Pookoo 



297 



therefore, are they likely to be found at the present day in anything but 

 small numbers ; but as their range extends right across South Central 

 Africa to Lake Tanganyika, it is to be hoped that this interesting species 

 will not become extinct for a long time to come. As a rule pookoo 

 antelopes are found in small herds of from three or four to a dozen in 

 number, though, as I have remarked above, I have seen as many as fifty 

 together in a part of the country where they used to be plentiful. Old 

 rams live alone, or several of them consort together, and I once saw a herd 

 of fifteen pookoos composed entirely of old males. I have never met with 

 pookoo antelopes at a distance of more than 200 or 300 yards from the 

 river they frequented, and they are usually found grazing close along the 

 water's edge. In habits they appear to me to resemble the waterbuck 

 rather than the lechwe antelope, as, like the former animal, they live on 

 dry ground close to the bank of a river, and lie resting during the heat of 

 the day in the shade of trees and bushes, but are never found in the treeless 

 flooded grass plains, in which situations alone lechwe antelopes are to be 

 met with. 1 I have never seen pookoo and lechwe antelopes consorting 

 together, and the habits of the two species are so very different, that I find 

 it difficult to believe that they ever do so, although doubtless the two 

 species may in some places be seen feeding near to one another. I have, 

 however, frequently seen pookoo and impala antelopes feeding together. 

 These two species stand just about the same height at the withers (about 3 

 feet), but the heavy, rather clumsy-looking forms of the first-named antelopes 

 contrast very strikingly with the light and graceful proportions of the 

 latter. The colour of the pookoo is a uniform yellow-red, deepest in 

 colour over the back and haunches, and over the loins the hair is often long 

 and curly. The tips of the ears are always black at all stages of growth. 



1 During the dry season of" African winter my hunting companion, Mr. W. Dove, and myself found 

 lechwe along the Botletli River, Ngamiland, feeding on hard, sun-baked alluvial flats, from which 

 the water had long since receded, and upon one or two occasions were even able to chase them on 

 horseback, when they ran always for the reeds and lagoons by the main river. — E». 

 2 Q 



