58 
THE NAKUEU HARTEBEEST 
THE NAKUEU HARTEBEEST 
As the correspondents who have written on this subject 
in ‘ The Field ’ do not appear to be acquainted with the original 
paper (‘ Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections,’ vol. ix., No. 8, 
p. 6, 1912) in which Mr. E. Heller described the Nakura 
hartebeest as a distinct species, under the name of Bubalis 
nakurce, the following extracts from that communication 
may be of interest. 
In general characters it is described as : Similar to B. 
Neumanni of the Lake Rudolph region, but differing by lighter 
body coloration and narrower or less broad bracket-shaped 
horns ; similar to Cokei in size and general body-colour, but 
feet with black band bordering hoof clefts, horns narrower, 
and less bracket-shaped. 
The author then proceeds to state that : The Smithsonian 
African collection contains three specimens of this race shot 
near Lake Nakuru by Kermit Roosevelt. These are distinctly 
different from the two mounted heads of Neumanni from Lake 
Rudolph in the Tring and British Museums. 
The horns of the Lake Rudolph specimen are much wider, 
practically the shape of those of tora, of which Neumanni 
appears to be a race. The Nakuru specimens, on the other 
hand, have less widely spread horns, more or less intermediate 
between those of Cokei and Jacksoni in shape, and on this 
account they have usually been considered hybrids between these 
species by sportsmen. This, however, is not the case, although 
they occupy a somewhat intermediate geographical position. 
They are found on the north-western edge of the range of 
Cokei, and are really surrounded by this species and actually 
removed by many miles from the nearest Jacksoni. The 
Nakuru race is known only by a single herd which inhabits 
the country lying between Lakes Nakuru and Elementaita. 
From Neumanni , which occupies the region bordering the 
north-eastern shores of Lake Rudolph, they are separated by 
several hundred miles. 
In the forthcoming second volume of the 4 Catalogue of 
Ungulates in the British Museum ’ the Nakuru hartebeest will 
