THE TSESSEBE OR SASSABY 
DAMALISCUS LUNATUS 
V ERY similar in size, build and general coloration to the 
topi, tiang and korrigum, this fine antelope may at once be 
distinguished from all its nearest allies by the form of its 
horns, which are crescent-shaped, inclining first obliquely 
upwards and outwards, and then bending upwards and 
backwards, the short, smooth tips only turning slightly 
inwards and being widely separated. Both sexes carry horns, which in the 
males may be from fourteen to sixteen inches long, whilst in the females 
the average length is a little less and the horns are slighter. 
In general colour tsessebe antelopes are of a rich purplish brown, and 
when in good condition their short, sleek coats show a beautiful iridescent 
sheen as the light plays over them. As in the korrigum, tiang and topi, 
there is a broad black blaze down the front of the face, and patches of the 
same colour on the shoulders, hips and upper portions of the limbs. The 
margins of the ears and the groin are white, while the tuft at the end of the 
tail is black. The young are of a uniform pale fawn colour. 
The tsessebe was first discovered by the well-known African traveller, 
Dr William J. Burchell, in 1812, on a tributary of the Orange River, in 
what is now the Orange Free State, to the eastward of the Kalahari Desert 
and north of the 28 deg. of S. Latitude. Its range was at that time probably 
continuous over the whole of South and South-Eastern Africa to the south 
of the Zambesi, except in mountainous regions, and on the high, open 
plains of the Transvaal, where it never seems to have existed. In the 
western part of its range it does not appear to have extended as far north 
as the southern boundary of the Portuguese province of Angola. Up to a 
comparatively recent date it was supposed that the tsessebe was entirely 
confined to that part of Africa which lies to the south and west of the 
Zambesi River, but in 1898 Mr F. Smitheman met with large herds of 
these antelopes on some open plains near Lake Bengweolo, in North- 
Eastern Rhodesia. This, however, appears to be the only locality where 
the tsessebe exists in any part of Africa north of the Zambesi. It is worthy 
of remark that amongst these isolated herds of tsessebe antelopes in 
Central Africa the horns appear to attain to a greater length than is the 
case in any part of South Africa. 
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