214 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
BONTEBOK AND BLESBOK GROUP 
Nearly allied to the hartebeests are 
certain other antelopes of which it will be 
sufficient to mention but two species — viz. 
the BONTEBOK and the BLESBoK. These 
two antelopes, though doubtless distinct, 
since their points of difference are constant 
and unvarying, are nevertheless so much 
alike, and evidently so closely allied, that I 
look upon the former as a highly coloured 
and specialised race of the latter. The bles- 
bok once had a far wider range than the 
bontebok, and ran in countless herds on 
the plains of the northern districts of the 
Cape Colony, the Orange River Colony, the 
Transvaal, Griqualand West, and British 
Bechuanaland, whilst the latter animal has 
always been confined to the sandy wastes 
in the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, the 
extreme southern point of Africa. 
I think it, however, not improbable 
that ages ago the blesbok ranged right 
through Cape Colony to the sea-shore, and 
that subsequently the gradual desiccation 
of the south-western portions of the country — which is still continuing — or several years of 
continuous drought, caused the withdrawal of the species northwards from the waterless parts 
of the country. Those, however, which had reached the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, where 
there is plenty of water, would have remained behind and formed an isolated race, which, being 
influenced by local conditions, would naturally in course of time have become differentiated 
from the parent stock. Be this as it may, the bontebok of to-day is nothing but a glorified 
blesbok, being slightly larger and 
more richly coloured than the 
latter animal. Its horns, too, are 
always black, whilst those of the 
blesbok are of a greenish hue. 
When they are in good condition, 
the coats of both these species 
of antelope, as well as of the 
SASSABY, another member of this 
group, show a beautiful satiny 
sheen, which plays over their 
purple-brown hides like shadows 
on sunlit water. 
The few bontebokswhich still 
survive are now all preserved on 
large enclosed farms; but their 
numbers are very small—less 
than 300, it is believed. The 
farmers of Dutch descent now do 
their best to preserve rare species 
on their land. This ‘* Wildebeest'” is believed to be practically exterminated as a wild animal 
Photo by Percy Ashenden] [Cape Town 
BLESBOK 
A species formerly very numerous in South Africa, but now well-nigh 
exterminated 
WHITE-TAILED GNU AND CALF 
