What are the most beautiful ungulate species in your opinion ?

Thanks O.C.

 

http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/151/1511192682.pdf

Okay, this is definitely the picture that I remember, No cross-sections into the head though, Maybe I was imagining things. Now, I dont remember the picture of the porcupine, or any of the text either. I am a little confused on how I still saw a book with this Picture in it. It wasn't this short article at all, but this picture was inserted into perhaps another anatomy book.

 

So that is a picture of a Sumatran rhino at the London Zoo, taken at the turn of the 20th century I'm guessing.

 

Yes, I saw it in a different book however, but again, I have no Idea where I got that book.

 

I think that picture was probably a very commonly used one in reference books throughout the early 20th century as this was before pictures of the species were obtainable in the wild due to advances in photographic technology and I don't think there were too many Sumatran rhinos being kept in zoos.

 

I think you are right, however, In my first posts I said I distinctly remember seeing a drawing of a Sumatran rhino. This is the picture, I can confirm, because when I was younger I mainly just stared at the pictures of animals for a while, without reading the words too much, and I couldn't really tell with black-and-white photos weather they were drawings or photographs.

 

One of the other things that comes to my mind with this species is their appearances in some of the books I've read.

I really enjoy reading the travelogues / non-fiction books of the explorer Wilfred Thesiger who crossed and re-crossed multiple times the "empty quarter" desert of Arabia.

In the book "Arabian sands" the Arabian oryx is mentioned many times when Thesiger and his fellow travels happen upon them in the desert.

Sometimes if they have enough food they simply watch them in awe but at other times out of necessity they hunt them and kill them. Even when they hunt them the beauty of the animal and respect for it is acknowledged by Thesiger and the way he describes them is as quite a haunting animal.

I also remember when I read "The seven pillars of wisdom" by T.E. Lawrence about the guerilla campaign against the Ottomans in the Arabian desert that the oryx (and several gazelle species) made similar appearances throughout.

In this book too there was a similar attitude of reverance for the animal even though it was being hunted to supply meat for the fighters. If I remember rightly it is often interpreted by the Arabs as a gift from god of life saving food in the harsh desert when they are often close to starvation.

 

I think I'd have to choose the Greater Kudu. I really like their stripes and spiraled horns.

 

Thanks for sharing @Pantheraman !

The kudu is a beautiful looking animal and seems to be a favourite for many zoochatters.

Also very significant for many ethnic groups of Africa like the San bushmen of South Africa and Namibia.

 

Prettiest ungulate is 100% the Red-hartebeest.

 

Thank you for sharing Nix !

Do you see these often in the wild ?

 

The best looking has to be the sable antelope

 

Thanks for sharing Javier !

Why the sable ?

 

Sometimes, I don't have any but would love to keep this species in the future.

 

The reason why I chose the sable is because of the striking sexual dimorphism, and also that adults can give a lioness a run for its money

 

Gemsbok, okapi, bharal, lowland nyala, Grevy's zebra, Somali wild ass, bongo, Jackson's hartbeest

 

Alright, I might be a year late to the party but I love this question! Personally, I've always been particularly fond of gemsbok, though barren-ground caribou and giant sable antelope are close seconds.

 

Very striking colors. Almost if not very regal look to them. Indeed very, very special antelope.

 

A lot of domestic horse breeds are very beautiful. As for wild species, I find most oryx species to be very beautiful, especially gemsbok. I also find the Nile lechwe at the St. Louis Zoo quite striking. A lot of cervids are quite beautiful, especially ones that retain white spots in adulthood, like fallow and sika deer.

 

This is a very hard call but I would say at least the Bongo and Sable antelopes in the top 3