!Airis

- Steenbok -

Steenbok are found almost everywhere. They feed on grass and leaves, such as ‡gares (Acacia mellifera, black thorn), |nubis (Acacia nebrownii, water acacia, water thorn) and !gûs (Acacia luederitzii, false umbrella thorn). This diet supplies them with sufficient moisture, and they seldom come to the waterholes. Although they are small, their meat is excellent, with good fat at the hips and chest. It was said that children or young women should not eat the meat since it could cause disease and pain. Because of their diminutive stature, steenbok were not used to make biltong.

Steenbok skin was used for clothes, utensils and shoes. Despite their good meat, they were not a particularly popular prey antelope, largely because the effort involved in the hunt might not have justified the rewards. When they were hunted, they had to be stalked. The best time to do this was when the steenbok was resting in the shadows of a tree (som‡haub). Conventional poison-covered arrow tips did not work, as the steenbok eats !khores (Adenium boehmianum), from which arrow poison is made, so it would not die easily when shot with a poison arrow. The hunter would probably have used a !amoab, the large arrowhead that is not covered with poison.