THE CAPE HARTEBEEST 



On the advent of the white man with his firearms 

 the innumerable herds of Hartebeest were rapidly- 

 reduced in numbers, and the survivors were driven 

 into the more remote districts. A few still linger 

 in the north-west of the Cape Province, which is 

 known as Namaqualand and Great Bushman Land. 

 Further north they are not uncommon in South- 

 West Africa and on the plains and open forests 

 of British Bechuanaland, the Bechuanaland Pro- 

 tectorate and the north-west portion of the Trans- 

 vaal. Briefly, the habitat of the Cape Hartebeest 

 is Africa south of the Limpopo River. In the 

 uplands of Natal, the Eastern Transvaal, Basutoland 

 and the Orange Free State, a few are preserved on 

 farms. On an estate in the Greytown District 

 in Natal a large herd of Cape or Red Hartebeest 

 have been preserved for many years. These bred 

 so freely that it was found necessary to diminish 

 their numbers at frequent intervals. 



The Cape Hartebeest associates in small troops 

 of six to about a dozen individuals and frequents 

 the open plains and bush-veld, chiefly in the dry, 

 desert-like western parts of the country. In the 

 past large herds of at least fifty were frequently seen. 

 Owing to long-continued persecution this animal 

 has become exceedingly suspicious and wary, and 

 on the sHghtest indication of danger it makes off 

 at a tremendous pace which is greater than that 

 of any other South African antelope, with the 

 exception of the Sassaby. This Hartebeest, relying 



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