D AMALIS (Strepsiceros) CAPEI'I S IS .
(MainmaJia^Ekte 43. female.)
DAMALIS (STREPSICEROS) CAPENSIS.
F orm, &c.—Figure rather more delicate than that of the Male, and its
head superiorly narrower. No horns; neck long and slender; tuft of tail less
bushy. Length from the horns to the base of the tail five feet five inches,
height at the shoulder three feet eight inches.
The Koodoo, like the Eland, is generally found associating in small herds of from four to
eight or ten individuals. Its favourite resorts are the slopes of low hills and the banks of
rivers, which are thinly sprinkled with brushwood or trees, and in districts in which it exists it
is looked for in those situations. It feeds upon buds, shrubs, and grass.
When the southern parts of Africa were first colonised, Koodoos were frequently discovered
even in the vicinity of the locality where Cape Town now stands. The efficient weapons of the
;3|uropean hunters, however, soon diminished the number, and now specimens are rarely to be
found within the Colony, which extends in an easterly direction about six and in a northerly direction
about three hundred miles. Even beyond these limits the animal is at present comparatively
rare, partly from colonists hunting it on the ground of the aborigines, and partly from
the natives themselves being to some extent supplied with fire arms, and therefore now more
able to kill it, which they eagerly do whenever opportunities offer, not more from the importance
o f its flesh as an article o f food than from the value of its skin, arising from its peculiar
durability and pliancy as an article of harness for horses, &c.
The Koodoo is an animal naturally shy and timid, and on being disturbed in its retreats,
immediately takes to flight, and so long as no obstruction to its retreat occurs, it moves briskly
and quietly along, but if closely chased so as to feel itself in danger, the male often turns on
the pursuer, faces him with determination, and manifests a strong propensity to defend himself
and his companions. Its gait is elegant, its pace a moderately swift gallop, and while progressing
it often springs over distances with great agility, and its bounds are frequently very
expansive. It produces one young one at a birth.