The Living Animals of the World

of male lions carry heavy manes, the long hair of which does not as a rule cover more than the neck and chest, with a tag of varying length and thickness extending from the back of the neck to between the shoulder-blades. Lions with very full black manes, covering the whole shoulders, are rare anywhere, but more likely to be encountered on the high plateaux, where the winter nights are extremely cold, than anywhere else. In such cases, in addition to the tufts of hair always found on the elbows and in the By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck] [Hamburg. A HAPPY FAMILY. armpits of lions with

Here is a group of animals and their keeper from Herr Hagenbeck's Thierpark. The animal in front fair-sized manes, there is a cros3 between a lion and a tigress; he lives on quite friendly terms with his keeper, and also with will probably be large lions, tigers, and leopards, as seen in the photograph. tufts of hair in each flank just where the thighs join the belly; but I have never yet seen the skin of a lion shot within the last thirty years with the whole belly covered with long, thick hair, as may constantly be observed in lions kept in captivity in the menageries of Europe. There is, however, some evidence to show that, when lions existed on the high plains of the Cape Colony and the Orange River Colony, where the winter nights are much colder than in the countries farther north where lions may still be encountered, certain individuals of the species developed a growth of long hair all over the belly, as well as an extraordinary luxuriance of mane on the neck and shoulders. it will From the foregoing remarks be seen that wild lions, having as a rule much less luxuriant manes than many examples of their kind to be seen in European menageries, are ordinarily not so majestic and dignified in appearance as many of their caged relatives. On the other hand, the wild lion is a much more alert and active animal than a menagerie isspecimen, and when in good condition far better built and more powerful-looking, being free from all appearance of lankiness and weakness in the legs, and having strong, well-formed hindquarters. The eyes of the Herr Carl Hagtnbeck] [Hamburg.menagerie lion, too, look brOWn and USUally By permission of sleepy, whilst those of the wild animal are A CROSS BETWEEN LION AND TIGRESS. a remarkable hybrid and its proud parents.yellow, and extraordinarily luminOUS even This unique photograph shows e father (on the right) is a lion, and the mother (on the left) aafter death. When WOUnded and Standing The offspring (in the centre) is a fine, large male, now four years oldtigres^; it u lion or tiger.at bay, With head held low between his bipger than an average-sized

a Photo by Ottomar Anschiitz]

A HUNGRY LION,

Notice that the mane, as in most wild lions, is very ecanty. 39 [Berlin.

of the World40 The Living Animals

shoulders, growling hoarsely, and with twitching tail, even if he is not near enough to be observed very closely, a lion looks a very savage and dangerous animal; but should he be wounded in such a way as to admit of a near approach perhaps by a shot that has paralysed his hindquarters his flaming eyes will seem to throw out sparks of living fire. Speaking generally, there is little or no danger in meeting a lion or lions in the daytime. Even in parts of the country where firearms are unknown, and

By permission of Herr Carl Hagenbeck] [Hamburg. where the natives seldom LIONESS AND TIGER. or never interfere with The straightness of the lioness's tail is here shown. It is not in the least like that of the tiger or of the cat. them, these animals seem to have an instinctive fear of man, and even when encountered at the carcase of an animal freshly killed, and at a time when they may be supposed to be hungry, they will almost invariably retreat before the unwelcome presence, sometimes slowly and sulkily, but in districts where much hunting with firearms has been going on at a very rapid pace. However, I have known of two cases of Europeans mounted on horseback having been attacked by lions in broad daylight, and Dr. Livingstone mentions a third. In one of the instances which came within my own knowledge, a lion sprang at a Boer hunter as he was riding slowly along, carrying an elephant-gun in his right hand and followed by a string of natives on foot. The lion attacked from the left side, and with its right paw seized my friend from behind by the right side of his face and neck, inflicting deep gashes with its sharp claws, one of which cut right through his cheek and tore out one of his teeth. My friend was pulled from his horse, but, clutching the loosely girthed saddle tightly with his knees, it twisted round under the horse's belly before he fell to the ground. Instead of following up its success, the lion, probably scared by the shouting of the Kaffirs, trotted away for a short distance, and then turned and stood looking at the dismounted hunter, who, never having lost his presence of mind, immediately shot it dead with his heavy old muzzle-loading elephant-gun. Besides these three instances of Europeans having been attacked in the daytime by lions, I have known of a certain number of natives having been killed in broad daylight. Such incidents are, however, by no means every-day occurrences, and, speaking generally, it may be said that the risk of molestation by lions in Africa during daylight is very small. It is by night that lions roam abroad with stealthy step in search of prey; and at such times they are often, when hungry, incredibly bold and daring. I have known them upon several occasions to enter a hunter's camp, and, regardless of fires, to seize oxen and horses and human beings.

During the year following the first occupation of Mashonaland in 1890, a great deal of damage was done by lions, which could not resist the attractions of the settlers' live stock. For the first few months I kept as accurate an account as I could of the number of horses,

The Cat Tribe

it soon mounted up todonkeys, oxen, sheep, goats, and pigs which were killed by lions, and over 200 head. During the same time several white men were also mauled by lions, and one unfortunate man named Teale was dragged from beneath the cart, where he was sleeping by the side of a native driver, and at once killed and eaten. Several of the horses were killed inside rough shelters serving as stables. In the following year (1891) over 100 pigs were killed in one night by a single lioness. These pigs were in a series of pens, separated one from another, but all under one low thatched roof. The lioness forced her way in between two poles, and apparently was unable, after having satisfied her hunger, to find her way out again, and, becoming angry and frightened, wandered backwards and forwards through the pens, killing almost all the pigs, each one with a bite at the back of the head or neck. This lioness, which had only eaten portions of two young pigs, made her escape before daylight, but was killed with a set gun the next night by the owner of the pigs. liable to become man-eaters. Finding their strength When lions grow old, they are always failing them, and being no longer able to hunt and pull down large antelopes or zebras, they are driven by hunger to killing small animals, such as porcupines, and even tortoises, or they for water; andmay visit a native village and catch a goat, or kill a child or woman going finding a human being a very easy animal to catch and kill, an old lion which has once tasted human flesh will in all probability continue to be a man-eater until he is killed. On this man-eater is invariably an oldsubject, in his "Missionary Travels," Dr. Livingstone says: "A lion; and when he overcomes his fear of man so far as to come to villages for goats, the people remark, ' His teeth are worn; he will soon kill men/ They at once acknowledge the necessity of instant action, and turn out to kill him." It is the promptness with which measures are taken by the greater part of the natives of Southern Africa to put an end to

Photo ly Ottomar Anschiit:] TIGRESS. Were the grass seen here the normal height of that in the Indian jungles, the upright lines uld harmonise with the stripes, and r, tiger almost invisible. O

The Living Animals of the World

any lion which may take to eating men that prevents these animals as a rule from becoming the formidable pests which man-eating tigers appear to be in parts of India. But man-eating lions in Africa are not invariably old animals. One which killed thirty-seven human beings in 1887, on the Majili River, to the north-west of the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, was, when at last he was killed, found to be an animal in the prime of life; whilst the celebrated man-eaters of the Tsavo River, in East Africa, were also apparently strong, healthy animals. These two man-eating lions caused such consternation amongst the Indian workmen on the Uganda Railway that the work of construction was considerably retarded, the helpless coolies refusing to remain any longer in a country where they were liable to be eaten on any night by a man-eating lion. Both these lions were at last shot by one of the engineers on the railway (Mr. J. H. Patterson), but not before they had killed and devoured twenty-eight Indian coolies and an unknown number of native Africans.

Photo by L. Midland, F.Z S., North Finchley.

TIGEB CUB.

Note the great development of the legs THE TIGER. and paws. TIGERS are the " type animal " of Asia. They are found nowhere else. Lions were inhabitants, even in historic times, of Europe, and are still common on the Euphrates and in parts of Persia, just as they were when the Assyrian kings shot them with arrows from their hunting-chariots. They survived in Greece far later than the days when story says that Hercules slew the Nemean lion in the Peloponnesus, for the baggage-animals of Xerxes' army of invasion were attacked by lions near Mount Athos. But the tiger never comes, and never did come in historic times, nearer to Europe than the Caucasian side of the Caspian Sea. On the other hand, they range very far north. All our tiger-lore is Indian. There is scarcely a story of tigers to be found in English books of sport which deals with the animal north of the line of the Himalaya. These Chinese northern tigers and the Siberian tigers are far larger than those of India. They have long woolly coats, in order to resist the cold. Their skins are brought to Photo by Valentine & Sons, Ltd.] [Dundee.London in hundreds every year to the great fur-sales. * BOYAL TIGER. But the animals them- This is an old Bengal Tiger, with the smooth, short coat grown in that hot climate.

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