Jeffrey Cohen, age 9, of Winnipeg, Canada, for his question:

What kind of animal is a kudu?

The kudu was named by the Hottentot people of South Africa. Long ago, these people shared their country with wandering herds of wild kudu. But the largest wild kudus have been wiped out from this part of the world. However, many families of kudu still live in other parts of Africa.

There is a greater kudu aid a lesser kudu. If you guess which one is slightly bigger than the other, chances are you would be correct. However, even the lesser kudu weighs more than a big, fat man. Except in size, the two kudus could be mistaken fir brothers. They are antelope animals with horns on their deer type heads and hoofs on their feet. Cows and sheep, gazelles and goats and other animals of this kind feed on greenery. So do the kudus. They browse on the leafy twigs of shrubs and bushes and sometimes they bend down their heads and graze on the grass.

Africa is the home of most of the world's wild antelopes and graceful gazelles. The greater kudu is one of Africa's largest antelopes. At shoulder level, he stands five feet    as tall as a sixth grader. His legs are very long and strong but his neck is rather short for an animal of his size. His deer type face is marked with white patches and set off by an extra large pair of deer type ears. So far, his description sounds like dozens of other animals. But the kudu has several special features that make him unusual.

He has stripes, an unusual mane and a pair of rather unusual horns. Antelope horns are hard and hollow. They may be curved or straight, but never forked or branched like the horns of the elk. The proud horns of the greater kudu are 5 1/2 feet long. As they spread outward and upward, they curve around in graceful spirals.. Lady kudus do not wear horns.

The short, shiny coat of the kudu may be light buff or pale gray. Someone seems to have drawn a few white chalk lines up one side, over his back and down the other side. The greater kudu has no mare than eight stripes. The lesser kudu may have several. more. The kudu's mane is not where you would expect to find it. A horse wears his mane on his neck, the lion wears his around his face. The kudu wears a thick, dark mane in a line down the front of his neck.

Kudos wander in small family parties. As a rule, there is one sturdy papa kudu, a few wives and a number of growing children. The greater kudos are at home among the hilly slopes of East Africa. Here they find plenty of bushes, green shrubbery and shelter from their hungry enemies. Kudu are very shy animals and always alert. People hardly ever get close enough to take photographs. They hear the softest sound and sniff the faintest whiff of a stranger. Then the whole family party gallops away on their speedy hooves.

The greater kudu weighs more than 600 pounds, the lesser kudu tips the scales at about 230 pounds. Lady kudos are smaller than their husbands. There are not a lot of greater kudos left in Africa. But their small cousins are still plentiful. Lesser kudos live on the grassy plains of Africa and also on the hilly slopes. They enjoy life in Kenya and Tanganyika, in Somaliland and other parts of East and South Africa.