Kudu Statue

The Kudu Statue stands near the Oode Voorspost Building on Independence Avenue and honours the many Kudu (a species of antelope) which died in the rinderpest epidemic of 1896.  The epidemic killed 5.2 million cattle south of the Zambesi, as well as domestic oxen, sheep and goats, buffalo, wildebeest and giraffes.  It was thought that the virus was introduced into Eritrea by Indian cattle brought in by the Italians for their campaign against the Somali.  Sir Arnold Theiler (1867-1936) developed a vaccine which eliminated the disease.  The statue was unveiled in 1960 as a ‘spirit of hope’ statue.