Plewman de Kok is well known to Rhodesians for his "Bundu Briefs" - a series of nature notes which have appeared regularly in the Sunday Mail (1953-1958). In this book some seventy of the Brief's have been brought together in permanent for for the first time. Their publication will meet a long felt need, and their appeal will be as great to the casual reader seeking relaxation as to the student of nature seeking knowledge. Published 1958.  Hardback, good condition.

THE KUDU (page 6)

The kudu or koodoo as it is variously called, is one of our handsomest antelopes. A fine bull with its magnificent spiral horns, massive neck, thick mane, and dewlap, and standing over five feet high at the shoulders, is indeed a splendid sight. In spite of its size-it weighs up to 650 lb.-it is very elusive and is one 01 the most difficult of game animals to spot. The kudu, in spite of being armed with horns up to four feet long, has very little spirit, and I have actually seen a big bull pulled down and killed by two wild dogs against which it could easily have defended itself. Even a small terrier can send a huge kudu bull racing away in panic. About the only time a kudu uses its horns aggressively is in the courting season when two bulls often fight for the favours of a female. Quite recently, on a farm near Bindura, the farmer heard the clashing of horns, and on going out to investigate he was surprised to find two big kudu bulls clenched in battle. He was astounded to see that the animals had got their horns inextricably intertwined and were quite unable to release them. One of the bulls seemed exhausted and was more or less hanging on to the other. Try as they would they could not disentangle and the farmer, who did not want to kill either, was at a loss how to help them. Deciding that the only way was to kill one he sent for his rifle but after he had shot one beast the other was still unable to release itself. So, helped by his labourers who held onto the horns of the live bull, he freed the animal by sawing a horn off the dead one. This is by no means an isolated case, and the late Col. Stevenson Hamilton relates a similar incident of entanglement in the Kruger Park. I have also heard of cases where the carcases of two dead bulls with horns intertwined have been found in the bundu. The cows are quite hornless and unable to defend themselves or their calves except to a very limited extent with their front hooves, with which they chop at anything threatening. In spite 01 that, and owing to their power of melting into the bush, kudu are still found all over Southern Africa where other more aggressive animals have been exterminated.

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