Show STRANGE ANIMAL OF FAR EAST cross between ox and antelope found in eastern himalayas chicago the strange animal de plated in the illustration Is scientific the ally known as the and common ly Is called the bull antelope of the eastern himalayas he Is a link be tween the ox and the antelope and according to prof ray lankester there Is nothing deceptive or mislead ing about the animal except its name and this after all is only the name given to it without intention to offend by the natives of the hills on the northern frontier of 0 assam whence the first specimen was ob talked by brian hodgson 40 years ago from native hunters it occurs also in the mountainous regions of western china where a pale colored variety of the species was discovered by pere david and in thabet the Is not rare in the high mountainous regions where it occurs collecting at tain seasons in herds it Is said to seek protection in the high forests and to feed on grassy downs from which the tile snow is melted by the winter sun it has rarely until today been shot by sportsmen on account of the political as well Is physical difficulties present ed to exploration in the country which it inhabits the recent british eppedi tion in thabet resulted in some fur ther expeditions across the he frontier and a few specimens of the takla have thus come to hand the scientific interest attaching to the depends on the fact that it furnishes one of the numerous links between the antelopes and the more familiar sheath horned ruminants which we know as cattle ox buffalo bison sheep and goats the has in the adult broad to tu mid bases to the horns which nearly meet in the middle line and a curva ture which is not unlike that presented by the horns of the gnu there is however one northern the musk ox of the arctic circle which in the general character of the horns and limbs with large lateral hoofs presents marked resemblance to the it Is probable that the Is an offshoot of the antelope stock which ultimately produced the musk ox just as the chamois the and the go ral rat are probably remnants of another antelope line of ancestry which gave rise rie to the goats and sheep |