Part 25

In his field-notes on the Antelopes of Eastern Algeria, published in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1896, Mr. A. E. Pease speaks as follows of the present species:--

“This Gazelle is by no means so rare as is generally supposed, though it is difficult to secure, its quickness and facility for eluding observation being equal almost to that of the Larrowi (Ovis tragelaphus). There is hardly a mountain in the southern ranges of the Aures where they are unknown, and I have seen them on almost every mountain from far to the N.W. of Biskra to the Tunisian frontier at Negrine. I know that they are common on the Djebel Cherchar, and I have seen them as far north as the hills and woods of Melagon, near Chelia. I have seldom seen more than eight in a herd, and far more frequently they are met with singly and in pairs, or bands of three to five. While frequenting the same difficult ground as the Larrowi, it is more usual to find them in larger numbers on those mountains which are lower than the highest. I have seen them on the plateaux and plains among the mountains, and they frequently descend at night to feed on the barley in the valleys, as also does the Larrowi. The best male horns I have measure rather more than 36 cm. along the curve.”

Crossing the frontier of Algeria into Tunis we find the Edmi Gazelle prevalent in suitable districts throughout that country. Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker, F.Z.S., who knows Tunis and its birds and mammals well, writes, in the same volume of the ‘Proceedings’ as we have quoted above, of his experiences of this animal as follows:--

“The Mountain Gazelle, the Edmi or Edem of the Arabs--the Tunisians use the latter name--is to be found sparingly on most of the mountains throughout the Tunisian Regency. Essentially a mountain species, as its name implies, it never occurs, so far as I am aware, on the plains, or at any distance from hilly country.

“I have met with the Edmi, and obtained specimens of it, on some of the higher ranges near Kasrin, in Central Tunis, and have found it in the south near Gafsa and Tamerza. In the north of the Regency it seems to occur on the mountains near Zaghouan, the extreme eastern range of the Atlas, and in the neighbourhood of Ghardimaou, on the Algerio-Tunisian frontier, from both of which places M. Blanc, the naturalist in Tunis, tells me he has received specimens in the flesh. I myself have also been offered Edmi-shooting on an estate only some twenty miles or so south of Tunis. It seems evident, therefore, that the species has a wide range in the Regency, although perhaps it is nowhere very abundant.

“The Edmi is to be found either in small herds or singly, and occasionally, though not as a rule, at a considerable elevation. On the Djebel Selloum and Djebel Semama, near Kasrin, both of which mountains are nearly 4000 feet above sea-level, I found the Gazelles about halfway up. These mountains, although steep in places and with some very rugged scarps, are in great part well-wooded with Aleppo pines, and on the lower slopes with a thick undergrowth of the usual maquis vegetation. In this brushwood the Gazelles easily escape detection and are naturally not very often seen. Although fond of cover, the Edmi will adapt itself to circumstances, and seems equally at home on the arid mountains of the south, where there is but little vegetation, and that merely of a dwarf description, affording slight shelter. In the spring, when my hunting-trips after Aoudad (Ovis tragelaphus) and Edmi have taken place, there has always been a little water on these mountains; but for some months of the year, I am told, the watercourses are dry, and the animals then, should they wish to drink, must travel some distance. That both these species, however, shift their quarters constantly I feel convinced, force of circumstances rendering them as much nomads as the Arabs themselves.

“The Edmi is very much larger than the Dorcas Gazelle, its weight being almost double. Its coat is darker in colour and with rather longer and coarser hair, while its knees, besides having very strongly developed brushes, show distinct callosities. The horns in the adult male are very stout and deeply annulated, and generally with but little curve, measuring about 13 inches, or even more in fine specimens. Those of the female are much more slender and smoother, but sometimes of fair length, some in my possession measuring 11 inches.”

Among the wood-blocks left ready for use by the late Sir Victor Brooke was a figure of a fine head of a male of this Gazelle drawn by Mr. Smit, of which we now give an impression.

Head of Edmi Gazelle, ♂.

(Drawn by Smit under the direction of the late Sir Victor Brooke.)]

The Edmi Gazelle is not often brought alive to Europe, but besides Ogilby’s type specimen, which we have already mentioned, at least three others have been exhibited at various times in the Zoological Society’s menagerie. An example of this species was first obtained in 1839, as mentioned in the Report of the Council for 1840, and another was acquired in November 1862. Others were presented by Capt. Alan Gardner, R.N., in June 1865, and by Rear-Admiral Sir William Hall, R.N., in May 1867. Sclater observed a female of this Gazelle in the Zoological Garden of Berlin in September 1897 (see P. Z. S. 1897, p. 813).

As we have already stated, the typical specimen of this Gazelle, formerly in the Zoological Society’s Collection, is now in the British Museum, as is also a stuffed female, originally presented by H.M. the Queen to the Zoological Society, but transferred to the National Collection in 1855. In the British Museum Gallery of Mammals will be found a good adult stuffed specimen of this Gazelle stated to be from near Biskra, Algeria, and presented by Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker. There are also some frontlets and horns of this species from the same locality presented by Messrs. Rowland Ward & Co.

We are greatly indebted to Sir Edmund Loder for a photograph of a head of a female of this Gazelle, taken from a specimen in his collection, which he himself shot on the 27th of February, 1893, on the Ahmar Khaddou Mountains, two days’ march east of Biskra. It shows very clearly the inferior size of the horns in this sex, and the long ears characteristic of the species.

Front view of head of Edmi Gazelle, ♀.

(From a photograph.)]

Our illustration of the male of this Gazelle (Plate LVIII.) has been drawn by Mr. Smit from the Algerian specimen in the British Museum above referred to.

January, 1898.

THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LIX.

J. Smit del. et lith. Hanhart imp.

The Arabian Gazelle.

GAZELLA ARABICA.

Published by R. H Porter.]

89. THE ARABIAN GAZELLE.

GAZELLA ARABICA (LICHT.).

Antilope arabica, =Licht.= Darst. Säug. pl. vi. (1827); =Ehrenb.= Symb. Phys. Decas i. pl. v. (1828); =Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 460 (1829); =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836); =Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 40 (1838); =Oken=, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1371 (1838); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. Supp. i. p. 261 (1840); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A. Mamm. p. 176 (1842); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 407 (1844), v. p. 403 (1855); =Reichenb.= Säug. iii. pl. xxxiii. fig. 188 (1845); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 399 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 4, pl. ii. (1848); =Gieb.= Säug. p. 307 (1853); =Heugl.= Faun. roth. Meer, Peterm. Mitth. 1861, p. 16; =id.= Ant. u. Büff. N.O.-Afr. (N. Act. Leop. xxx. pt. 2) p. 5 (1863).

Gazella arabica, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853); =Tristr.= P. Z. S. 1866, p. 86; =id.= Faun. & Flor. Pal. p. 26 (1884) (Palestine); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. p. 159; =Blanf.= Zool. Abyss, p. 261, pl. i. fig. 3 (horns) (1870); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 544, 1874, p. 141 (fig., head); =Scl.= List Vert. An. Z. S. (1) p. 140 (1883), (2) p. 981 (1896); =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 137 (1887); =W. Scl.= Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 458 (1891); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.) p. 168 (1892); =Ward=, Horn Meas. (1) p. 114 (1892), (2) p. 156 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 179 (1893); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1897, p. 812 (Hodeidah).

Antilope cora, =H. Sm.= Griff. An. K. iv. p. 216, v. p. 333 (1827); =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 287 (1836).

Gazella cora, =Gray=, List Mamm. B. M. p. 161 (1843).