THE VAAL RHEBOK 
PELEA CAPREOLVS 
T HE vaal or grey rhebok (pelea capreolus) is an entirely different 
animal to the rooi or red rhebok, and, indeed, shows no near 
relationship to any other African antelope, occupying a position 
apart as the sole member of its genus. Standing a little higher 
on the legs than the rooi rhebok, these antelopes are of a 
uniform bright-grey colour, with short bushy tails, the under- 
surface of which is white. The ears are very long and narrow, and the 
horns, which are ringed for about half their length, are quite straight, 
and grow exactly parallel to one another. Their average length is eight 
or nine inches, but they sometimes attain a length of eleven inches. The 
naked portion of the muzzle is rather large, and forms a lump at the end 
of the animal’s nose. The coat of the vaal rhebok is soft, rather long and 
quite woolly. 
The range of this antelope is very restricted. It is common quite close 
to Cape Town, as well as in all the hills and mountains of the Cape 
Peninsula, and in many other districts of the Cape Colony, as well as in 
the Orange Free State, and the southern and eastern districts of the 
Transvaal. It is also found on the southern slopes of the Drakensberg 
Mountains, in Natal and Pondoland. Although it has been stated that the 
vaal rhebok is an inhabitant of Bechuanaland and Matabeleland, I have 
never personally met with or heard of it in either of these territories, 
though I have seen and shot rooi rheboks in the first -named country. 
Vaal rheboks may sometimes be met with in pairs, but more usually they 
live in herds of from five or six to twelve or fifteen. In the central and 
northern districts of the Cape Colony, as well as in the Orange Free State, 
I always met with these antelopes on rough, stony hills, and usually 
fairly high up; but in the Cape Peninsula near Caledon I have seen them 
feeding close to the post road leading to Bredasdorp, at quite a distance 
from the nearest steep hill. When disturbed, they climb the roughest 
hill -sides with great agility, and I have always found them wary and difficult 
to approach. As in the case of the rooi rhebok, it is always better to climb 
to the tops of any hills on which vaal rheboks are likely to be found, and 
then spy and stalk them from above, than to endeavour to hunt them from 
below. I remember, when travelling through the Cape Colony on my way 
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