XII 
THE FAUNA OF SOMALILAND 
303 
broken ground in the neighbouring plains. An old male with a 
heavy pair of horns seems to avoid thick jungle, where they may 
catch in the branches, and likes to spend the heat of the day 
under the shadow of some great rock on the mountain side, 
where he can get a good view around. His eyes, nose, and ears 
appear to be equally on the alert, and he is often very cunning. 
Although such a heavy animal, he is a good climber and is hard 
to stalk, but, once successfully approached, the steep nature of 
the ground generally yields him up an easy victim to the rifle. 
The alarm-note of the female koodoo is a loud, startling bark, 
which echoes far into the surrounding hills, and is similar to 
that of the Indian sambar hind. The bark is accompanied by 
an impatient pawing of the ground with the hoofs. 
The habits of the greater and lesser koodoo correspond 
respectively to those of the sambar and spotted deer of Southern 
India. Greater koodoo live in the mountains, and lesser koodoo 
on the bush-covered slopes at their base. Koodoo are generally 
timid, but care must be taken when coming suddenly on them, 
as I once saw an unwounded bull make a determined charge 
from some thirty yards 5 distance at a man sent to stop the 
mouth of a gorge. The man jumped to one side and threw his 
spear, grazing the flank of the beast, which then galloped into 
the plain below and escaped. 
The koodoo is the largest of the Somhli antelopes, a big 
bull standing about 13 hands 1 inch; and although an active 
climber, he is not fast on level ground. A fairly good pair of 
horns in Somaliland will measure 3 feet from base to tip, and 
50 inches round the spiral of each horn. The largest I have 
seen measured 56 inches round the spiral. The koodoo is rare 
except in the mountains, and is found on the highest ground of 
Northern Somaliland, inhabiting the top of Wagar Mountain 
and Golis Range, which rise to about six thousand eight hundred 
feet. It has lately become scarce even in these parts. 
The Lessee Koodoo ( Strepsiceros imberbis) 
Native name, Godir or Arreh Godir (male) ; Ader-yu (female) ; Ader-yu 
(collective) 
This is, to my mind, quite the most beautiful of all the 
SomMi antelopes ; the skin being more brilliantly marked and 
the body more gracefully shaped than that of the greater 
koodoo. The lesser koodoo is rather smaller than the beisa. 
