. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. \SLiifiisf:' ^ ** ^^i â :- Phote by Percy j4shender,'\ [_Capt Town BLESBOK A species formerly ijery numerous in South Africa, hut no'w ivell-nigh exterminated BONTEBOK AND BlESBOK GROUP Nearly allied to the hartebeests are certain other antelopes of which it will be sufficient to mention but two species â viz. the Bontebok and the Blesbok. These two antelopes, though doubtless distinct, since their points of difference are constant and unvarying, are nevertheless so much alike, and evidently so closely allied, that I look upon the former as a highly coloured
. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. \SLiifiisf:' ^ ** ^^i â :- Phote by Percy j4shender,'\ [_Capt Town BLESBOK A species formerly ijery numerous in South Africa, hut no'w ivell-nigh exterminated BONTEBOK AND BlESBOK GROUP Nearly allied to the hartebeests are certain other antelopes of which it will be sufficient to mention but two species â viz. the Bontebok and the Blesbok. These two antelopes, though doubtless distinct, since their points of difference are constant and unvarying, are nevertheless so much alike, and evidently so closely allied, that I look upon the former as a highly coloured and specialised race of the latter. The bles- bok once had a far wider range than the bontebok, and ran in countless herds on the plains of the northern districts of the Cape Colony, the Orange River Colony, the Transvaal, Griqualand West, and British Bechuanaland, whilst the latter animal has always been confined to the sandy wastes in the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, the extreme southern point of Africa. I think it, however, not improbable that ages ago the blesbok ranged right through Cape Colony to the sea-shore, and that subsequently the gradual desiccation of the south-western portions of the country â which is still continuingâor several years of continuous drought, caused the withdrawal of the species northwards from the waterless parts of the country. Those, however, which had reached the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas, where there is plenty of water, would have remained behind and formed an isolated race, which, being influenced by local conditions, would naturally in course of time have become differentiated from the parent stock. Be this as it may, the bontebok of to-day is nothing but a glorified blesbok, being slightly larger and more richly coloured than the F latter animal. Its horns, too, are always black, whilst those of the blesbok are of a greenish hue. When they are in good condition, the coats of both these species of antelope, as well as of the Sass
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Keywords: ., bookauthorco, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmammals
