XXII 
ANTELOPES 
Antelopes are almost as peculiar to the Ethiopian 
Region as Marsupials are to Australia. Jn East Africa 
they occupy the plateaus and grassy plains in thousands, 
l)ut are becoming less abundant as the country is 
opened up by European settlers. Some of the big 
antelopes, especially the kudus, have diminished in 
number since 1890 ; when the rinderpest destroyed these 
magnificent animals wholesale. Buffaloes and gnus also 
sufiered badly in this epidemic. Antelopes belong to 
the family Bovidm, which contains oxen, sheep, and 
goats. So far as the external characters of these 
animals are concerned the chief distinction between 
them and the deer family (Cervidm) is the horns. An 
antelope is an easily recognised animal, but there is 
scarcely any term less easy to define than antelope. 
To-day it is applied to any sheath-horned ruminant not 
coming under the designation of ox, sheep, or goat. 
The term has a popular but not a scientific significance. 
That Africa is the headquarters of antelopes may be 
gathered from the fact that out of thirty-five genera no 
fewer than twenty-four are African. In the course of a 
journey from Mombasa to Uganda an observant traveller 
will note examples of a dozen genera of these interesting 
and beautiful mammals. 
In describing them I shall follow the classification 
adopted in the catalogue guide published for use in the 
Natural History Museum, London. 
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