EXOTIC ANTELOPES. 13 



cation. A full-grown pronghorn weighs from 100 to 125 pounds, 

 and will dress from 65 to 80 pounds. 



EXOTIC ANTELOPES. 



The Old World antelopes belong to the family of Bovidse, and 

 include many valuable food animals. In Africa alone over a hun- 

 dred species occur, many of them hardy and most of them excellent 

 game. Fully a score of species would be promising subjects for ac- 

 climatizing in America. Africa, like our own country, has arid 

 sections, and some of her antelopes are probably especially adapted 

 to the desert lands of our Southwest, and might be used to restock 

 parts of that region from which our own pronghorn has been exter- 

 minated. Some years ago a society was organized for the purpose 

 of introducing the gazelle into southern California, but no practical 

 results followed. 



THE ELAND. 



The eland (Taurotragus) , the largest of the antelope family, is 

 threatened with extermination over the greater part of its range in 

 South Africa. Its average weight is from 800 to 1,100 pounds, and 

 old males have been known to attain a weight of 1,400 to 1,500 

 pounds. This animal has often been recommended for rearing in 

 captivity because of the excellence of its flesh, which is superior to 

 beef. Harris, the African traveler, states that while it resembles 

 beef in grain and color, it is far better flavored and more delicate, 

 possessing a pure game flavor and remarkable for the quantity of fat 

 interlarded between the muscles. 



The eland was introduced into Holland by the Prince of Orange 

 in 1783. It was acclimatized in England by the Earl of Derby in 

 1842, and was bred successfully in his parks. After his death the 

 herd passed into possession of the London Zoological Society in 1851, 

 and continued to increase in numbers for many years. In 1899 the 

 Duke of Bedford had a fine herd of 14 elands in the park at Woburn 

 Abbey. 



The scarcity of this game animal in a wild state and the conse- 

 quent cost of obtaining stock would probably make experiments in 

 breeding it in the United States so expensive as to prohibit the 

 attempt by individual enterprise. However, the experience with 

 the animal in Europe gives assurance that, if properly undertaken, 

 efforts to acclimatize it in the United States would be successful. 



THE NILGAI. 



The nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) of India is, next to the 

 eland, the largest of antelope. The animal is ungainly in appear- 

 ance, and its flesh is somewhat inferior to that of the eland, but its 



