THE LEUCORYX ANTELOPE. 
Oryx leucoryx. 
Plate XXIII. 
The Leucoryx Antelope yields in beauty to none of the numerous members of this attractive group of 
Ruminants, between sixty and seventy species of which are found in the interior of Africa. It is an inhabi¬ 
tant of the more northern portion of that continent, extending from Western Africa into Abyssinia and 
Nubia. Dr. Gray tells us that specimens from these two countries which he examined were indistinguishable 
on comparison. 
The Leucoryx, which is now a well-known species in the Menageries of Europe, was first introduced 
into this country by the late Earl of Derby, who spared neither trouble nor expense in making acquisitions 
of this group of animals for his living collection at Knowsley. Lord Derby obtained his first female of 
this species in 1837, but it was not until the retirement of Mr. Cross from the Surrey Zoological Gardens, and 
consequent dispersion of that collection some six or seven years afterwards, that he succeeded in acquiring 
a male. Owing to the age of the female at this time, although she twice bred with the male, she failed to 
rear her offspring, and died in 1846, being, as Lord Derby believed at that time, “the only female in England.” 
A pair subsequently acquired by his Lordship were purchased by the Zoological Society at the dispersion of 
the Knowsley Menagerie, and with one received through the Hon. A. A. Murray, laid the foundation of 
their present stock of this graceful Antelope, which now breeds every year in the Gardens. 
In Southern Africa the place of the Leucoryx is taken by the Gcms-bok (Oryx gaxella), likewise a most 
beautifully marked species. Another nearly-allied animal is the Beisa Antelope (Oryx beisa), discovered by 
Dr. Riippell, in Abyssinia; and a fourth of the same group is the recently named Beatrix Antelope, of Dr. Gray 
(Oryx beatrix). Of the latter species the only known specimen was living for a short time in the Menagerie, 
having been presented to the Society by Captain John Shepherd, of the East India Company. The Beatrix 
Antelope, which is well figured in the Society’s Illustrated “Proceedings” (1857, Mammalia, plate lv.), was 
imported into this country from Bombay, but its true home is believed to be the eastern coast of the Red Sea. 
