THE GERENUK OR WALLER’S GAZELLE 
LITHOCRA NIUS WALLERI 
T HIS remarkable antelope, which differs even more than does 
the dibatag from the true gazelles, was yet first considered 
on the evidence of a flat skin to belong to that family; in 
1886, after a careful examination of further specimens, it was 
inevitably placed in a separate genus, of which it is the sole 
representative. In its general proportions, the gerenuk closely 
resembles the dibatag, though both the neck and the legs are even more 
elongated than in that species. The head is singularly small, and the face, 
on which there are no gazelle-like streaks of black, or brown, and white, 
is of a uniform light brown, except for the white patches surrounding the 
eyes. The horns, which are only present in the males, are heavy for the 
size of the skull on which they stand, and deeply ringed from the base to 
within a few inches of the tips. Bending first outwards and forwards, then 
inwards and backwards, and finally crooking sharply forwards at the 
tips, they attain a length in Somaliland of from fifteen to sixteen or even 
seventeen inches, but further south, in British and German East Africa, 
they seldom reach a length of over fifteen inches, and any measurement 
over fourteen inches may be considered good. In the general colour of its 
coat the gerenuk closely resembles the impala antelope, being of a rich 
dark chestnut red on the upper parts of the back and sides, whilst the 
neck and lower parts of the sides are of a much lighter shade. The under- 
parts are white. So slender is the build of Waller’s gazelle that, although 
a full-grown buck will stand about forty inches at the shoulder, its weight 
will, as a rule, not be much over 100 lb. 
The range of the gerenuk extends from Somaliland to British and 
German East Africa. The Somaliland gerenuk grows to a larger size, and 
has finer horns than the typical race found further south. It also shows 
other small points of difference, such as the absence of the black knee 
tufts, and a less rufous coloration, and has therefore been described as a 
distinct species under the name of Lithocranius walleri sclateri; but there 
can be no doubt that the two forms are merely local races of one species, 
and are probably connected by intermediate forms. 
In British East Africa the gerenuk is essentially an inhabitant of hot, 
arid regions covered with scrubby bush, being nowhere met with, I believe, 
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