day three-hundred-and-sixty-five - ???

a few people have asked me what i was going to draw for the final animal. and i had no idea. i sure wasn't going to put in any extra effort - why should i draw something special? it's just another day. obviously this project comes across as way more meaningful than it is.

but then i had a great idea. until now i have depicted animals i like. why not depict one i hate? i would art-ify the most evil and destructive of all animals...

humans. truly despicable characters.

but then i thought. who am i, the adelaide zoo? i'm not that lame. i'm lamer. and so i end with just another animal...

© jem barratt

a mountain gazelle. just another antelope (and no i am not nude [and no, if you really need to know i am not actually an antelope {NOR do i really look like one - a failure all 'round}])

farewell no-one. i am a scientist now, and thus must give up on art.

xj

day three-hundred-and-fifty-six - blesbok

an animal with three words in its scientific name... faaaaaancy

© jem barratt

they are only eyeless when drawn by a creative (read: lazy) artist

other than that they're just antelopes you know

oh except blesboks can interbreed with another type of antelope and they were nearly hunted to extinction. so they have some interesting tidbits i suppose

xj

day three-hundred-and-forty - nilgai (+ myna birds)

two-for-one!

© jem barratt

well nine-for-one. even better.

except the sheer number of animals means that the realism had to be sacrificed, hence the teal antelope. or antealope if you will.

g'night.

xj

day three-hundred-and-seven - yellow-backed duiker

guess who still hasn't studied?

this guy...

© jem barratt

what a slacker.

yellow-backs are the biggest of all duikers (pronounced di-ker), and they all have a penchant for diving into dense vegatation for cover - this is how they got their name after all, which means 'diver' in afrikaans.

that doesn't explain their orange front tuft or tiny horns though does it. i'm just going to attribute those to overall cutenessosity. i have a lab coat now, so i think i would know.

more importantly the duiker eats, shoots and leaves (this will only be amusing on the very off-chance that anyone reading this has also read a particular grammar book by lynne truss...).

xj

day two-hundred-and-seventeen - eland

yep

© jem barratt

(how do they hold up the front of their bodies with their legs so far back??)

g'night
xj

day two-hundred-and-four - takin

cow-bears!! these guys would be a nightmare in that katamari level where you have to avoid touching anything cow-ish or bear-ish.

by the way, they're not bears or even very bear-ish at all. they just make me think 'cow bear'. how about you? to be honest, i think it's just because they're so furry. and funny. and occasionally cow-bear-moosey...

© jem barratt

well i suppose i should talk in truths instead of just spouting what i think they look like. they are actually goat-antelopes. not cows (or bears [obviously]) at all. their mental goat-eyes should tip you off.

also they are the national animal of bhutan (along with a 'druk' or thunder dragon, but at least this guy's real). in your face bhutan, we have two REAL animals as our national reps.

on the other hand, yours looks more mystical and revered (and cute) than the emu and the kangaroo...

xj

day two-hundred - gerenuk

what a milestone! although someone keeps feeling the need to remind me that there's sooooo(oooo) many days to go.

in any case, here's a silly alien antelope to ogle:

© jem barratt

giant ears, funny vicuña-like faces, and necks that rival a giraffe's. yep gerenuks are weird alright.

oh and they sure love tiptoes and trees, the nutjobs.

xj

day one-hundred-and-ninety-two - hirola

the fate of an entire genus rests on this guy

© jem barratt

not that exact one (he's a drawing) but less than 400 actual antelopes in africa. the last time an entire genus went extinct was 75 years ago with the death of tasmanian tiger.

eep!

pull your shit together humans! (there are probably other extenuating circumstances)

read more of their plight here if you like. or look at this if you need something less depressing to occupy your mind...

xj

day one-hundred-and-seventy-one - waterbuck(s)

mum waterbuck + dad waterbuck = baby waterbuck

© jem barratt

they look like cows but are antelope. silly antelope, why do you look like another animal?

no matter, you have some mighty fine butt markings.

xj

day one-hundred-and-sixty-eight- saiga

oh man, why did i draw the antler-less female of the species?

© jem barratt

she's a cutie, but in general these antelope look like aliens. and we all know an alien with horns is better than one without.

xj