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Waterbuck

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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(Wasserbok), the name of a large South African antelope (Cobus ellipsiprymnus) belonging to the subfamily Cervicaprinae, characterized by the white elliptical ring on the buttocks, and the general reddish grey colour of the long and coarse hair. They have heavily fringed necks and tufted tails; the bucks carry long sublyrate and heavily ringed horns, but the does are horn- - - less. They seek -e' refuge from pur suit in the water. The name is extended to include the sing-sing or defassa waterbuck (C. def assa), a wides p read species, without the white ring on the buttocks, and represented by several local races, one of which is foxy red while a second is greyish. Both species equal in size the red deer. The smaller members of the genus Cobus (which is exclusively African) are generally called kobs. (See ANTELOPE.)