The record-union., 1898-01-28
GIRAFFES ARE SCARCE.
WHERE THEY LIVE AND HOW
THEY ARE CAPTURED.
Few Giraffes Are Taken Alive as
Compared With Other
Quadrupeds.

QuaOcupcOS.
! The untimely and most reGrettable
death of the young South African 81
raffe which lately reached England
! serves again to remind us Of the in
cerasinS scarcity of these animals and
| OF the immense difficulties which attend
| their capture. 1t is remarkable fact
that until the year 1895 no living giraffe
| had ever reached Europe from South
Africa. The old stock, SO long familiar
in the Geological Society's Gardens,
were descended from animals captured
/ III kordofan by NJ. Thibaut, French
| trader in the Soudan, as far back as
1851. These North African giraffes
bred freely in captivity. and the last Of
j this stock died so recently as 1892. In
1893 the Geological Society were fortu
nate enough to purchase a young fe
male captured by Boer hunters in
! southeast Africa. This animal has
thriven remarkably and it was conf
IDENTIFY hoped that its union with the
young male which has just died would
result in the reproduction of a fresh
| family Of these strange and interest
/ ing animals. Throughout Europe gi
raffes have been Of Late years, thanks
principally to the closing Of the Soudan
| trade routes by the Mahdis adherents,
| extremely scarce, and the supply in
other parts Of Africa is without doubt
being depleted rapidly and surely year
! by year. Even in the further Soudan
| these animals are being gradually ex-
| terminated
USES OF IT'S HIDE.
| Giraffe hide-Which in the mature an
imas attains thickness of at least an
! inch upon the upper parts-is a COM
| modify eagerly sought after by all ma
tives south and north of the Equator.
From it are fashioned sandals. shields
and whips, and the demand for it is,
owing to the extremnation of the rhin-
| oceros and hippopotamus, rapidly in
creasing. In South Africa the value
| of the skin of a full-groWn bull giraffe.
| is at the present time, even far up
country, about fJ, and TO secure this
reward large numbers of giraffes, wher
ever these animals are plentiful, are
annually slain, principally to supply the
constant demand for sjamboks-i. e.,
colonial raw-hide whips. 1t is within
the writer's knowledge that quite re-
Gently, during two seasons hunting,
not less than 800 giraffes have been
/ shot by native hunters near Lake
| Ngami. That slaughter, within linn
tied district, represents naturally only
small portion of the determination
which is, month by month and week
| by week, going forward in the african
continent.
CHASE OF THE GIRAFFE.
| With the horse the chase of the gi-
raffe is rendered comparatively easy,
as even native hunters have, unfortu-
Eately for the animal, long since found
out. 1t is true that giraffes are pos
sessed of very considerable speed and
great staying power. But the secret
of their downfall is very easily dis
covered. If the hunter presses his
horse at topmost speed with whip and
! spur for the first two or three miles Of
the chase, he can run right up to his
game (unless the troop has gained an
inordinate starD, and either shoot the
animal he singles out easily from the
saddle, or turn it from it's fellows and
! bring it shortly to d standstill. At
their own pace giraffes can run for
| hours together, but, pressed beyond
! their speed they become winded and
| fall easy victims. a solid lead bullet,
/ planted somewhere near the root of the
giraffe's tail, pentrates through the
short body easily to a vital part, and
! the animal falls crashing to the earth.
! With a broken limb the giraffe is at
once disabled.
SPEED IN THE CHASE.
The pace of the giraffe is, from its in
ordinate length of leg, wonderfully de-
ceptive. Viewed for the first time a
| troop OF these animals in their queter
PAGES appear to be going very slowly.
/ With his horse at a canter the hunter
quickly finds out his mistake and pre-
sently presses his mount to its utmost
speed. If the country is fairly open, and
/ he is well mounted and has q fair start,
! he may expect to ride UP close to his
/ Quarry'S sternS at hard galloD in fif
! teen minutes. Pushed to their utmost
speed troop of giraffes, which in their
| gliding walk seemed to steal over the
ground with extraordinary ease and
smoothness, exhibit a marked change IN
/ their action. At full galoo the gaIt of
these animals alters 10 a series of aWk
ward, bounding leaps, the long neckS
swing uD and down. and the long black
tails, twisted over the backs, are whirled
rapidly round and round with loud
swilshing noise, which can be plainly
heard as the rider approaches. The flesh
of young giraffes and especially of a
| plump COW, is extremely good, some
what like veal, with a gamelike flavor.
! The tongue. about eighteen to twenty
irches i'll length. is also very good f'ut
| the marrow bone furnish the greatest
! luxury of the South African hunting
veldt. y giraffe marrow bone, about
! three feet in length, roasted over the
camp fire and sawn in half, furnishes,
with the accompaniment of toast or
bread, truly eoicuroan repast for
couple oc hungry men.
THEIR DISTRIBUTION.
AT the beginning Of this century 81
raffes were to be found inhabiting AZ
/ rica from the borders of Abyssinia down
to the Orange River, south of which II
seems doubtful whether their range ever
/ extended. At the present time their
distribution is far more circumscribed.
and they are not now to be encountered
| in South Africa until the Northern Kali
ahar, Khama5s country, and Mata-
beleland are reached. In Central Africa
they are scarce, while in the western
| part of the continent they are quite un-
| known. In East Africa, the Soudan ana
/ Somaliland they are fairly abundant.
| Now that the Transvaal hunting
! Boers-iinding ii more profitable occu-
! pation-have turned their attention to
/ the capture instead of the slaughter of
/ the Wild animals III the countries beyond
! their borders, it is possible that we may
! occasionally hear of young specimens
| for sale. Rinderpest has, however, done