Fringe-eared Oryx

The Fringe-Eared Oryx or Keisa was a subspecies of antelope, which inhabited the Kirinyaga region.

In 1909, Theodore Roosevelt led a big game hunting expedition to Kirinyaga, hoping to bring specimens of the oryx back to American museums so as to teach the Americans about this rare type of antelope. However, the oryx had mysteriously disappeared from their usual grazing grounds, and the chance of hunting them looked very dim. Fascinated by an illustration of the creature, Indiana Jones, whose family took part in the expedition, set out to find the new habitat of the oryx.

Jones befriended a local Maasai boy, called Meto, and together they managed to find the new habitat of the oryx. Jones informed Roosevelt of the whereabouts of the herd of oryx. Jones managed to persuade Roosevelt and his fellow hunters to only should one oryx, using the rarity of the animal as his main argument.

The oryx figured in Maasai culture, which Jones learned when Meto showed him some traditional rock paintings of the animal.

Appearances

 * Passion for Life