The Living Animals of the World, Volume I: Mammals

THE AMERICAN BISON.

The American bison is the western representative of the bison of Europe. The almost complete disappearance of this species is one of the warnings against reckless p/i0to iy w. P. Dando} [Regent's Park. destruction of animal life. It INDIAN HUMPED CATTLE. origin of the name is unknown. formerly found in millions These are often called Zebu in Europe, but the

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on the prairies, and its meat formed the staple food of the Red Indians, who lived on the flesh and used the "robes" of those killed in winter for great coats and bedding. When Audubon went up the Upper Missouri, bison were in sight almost throughout the voyage; they were even carried down on ice-flows on the river. The bulls were very large, and were occasionally savage, especially when attacked and wounded; but usually they were harmless animals. Every winter and spring they made migrations along regular routes to fresh pastures. These lines of travel were then black with bison. The females had their calves by their sides, and all travelled in herds,' feedingO as they went. At the present time the only remains of the bison are the paths they left on the prairies, and Photo by W. P. Dando. [Regent’s Park.] their bones and skulls. The paths DOMESTICATED YAK. still are distinctly seen, worn by the The wild Iwvine animal of the Central Asian plateau, tamed and domesticated. " " treks of the great beasts which have now perished. The bones were collected in stacks and sold to make manure.

Colonel Roosevelt, in an article contributed to " The Encyclopaedia of Sport," thus describes the destruction of the bison: " Pursuit by sportsmen had nothing to do with the extermination of the bison. It was killed by the hide-hunters, redskin, white, and half-breed. The railways, as they were built, hastened its destruction, for they gave means of transporting the heavy robes to market. But it would have been killed out anyhow, even were there no railroads in existence. Once the demand for the robes became known to the Indians, they were certain to exterminate it. Originally the bison ranged from the Rocky Mountains to the Alleghanies, and from Mexico to the Peace River. But its centre of abundance was the vast extent of grass-land stretching from the Saskatchewan to the Rio Grande. All the earlier explorers who crossed these great plains, from Lewis and Clarke onwards, spoke of the astonishing multitudes of the bison, which formed the sole food of the Horse Indians. The herds were pressed steadily back, but the slaughter did not begin till after the Civil War; then the commercial value of the robes became fully recognised, and the transcontinental railways rendered the herds more accessible. The slaughter was almost incredible, for the bison were slain literally by millions every year. They were first exterminated in Canada and the southern plains. It was not till 1883 that the last herd was killed off from the great north-western prairies."

The height of a fine bull American bison at the shoulder is 6 feet. The horns are short, blunt, and curved, and set farther back on the forehead than in the European species. The hindquarters are low and weak, and the mane develops in winter into a thick robe, Ibs. covering the neck, shoulders, and chest. An adult bull bison was found to weigh 1,727 The woodland-bison of Athabasca, now nearly exterminated, are larger than the prairie-bison, and have finer coats. In 1897 there were said to be between 280 and 300 head remaining in two herds.

THE BUFFALOES.

will not interbreed THE BUFFALOES are so far distinct from other wild cattle that they with them; yet one species, the INDIAN BUFFALO, has been domesticated for a long, though

By permission of the Sew York Zoological Society.

AMERICAN BULL BISON.

The American bison (locally called " buffalo") is lower behind than its European brother; but the withers, as will be seen from the photograph, are stronger and more massive, and its mane considerably longer.

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unknown period, and is among the most valuable of tame beasts of draught, as well as for dairy purposes. The various buffaloes usually have little hair, especially when old, and have flatter shoulders than the gaur, gayal, or bison. The pairs of ribs number thirteen.

THE AFRICAN BUFFALO.

Great differences in size and colour exist in the AFRICAN BUFFALOES. Whether they are separate species or not may be doubtful; but the small yellow CONGO Photo by the Duchess of Bedfo EUROPEAN BISON. BUFFALO, with upturned short These wild animals of the Caucasus are very ranch scarcer than formerly, and are in danger DOmS, IS a Vastly different of becoming extinct. creature from the large black CAPE BUFFALO. There is also an Abyssinian or brown race of African buffalo, and another in Senegambia smaller than the former, and a reputed grey race near Lake Tchad. The Cape 1 buffalo is a heavy, thickset animal, ah black in colour, with large massive horns covering the skull, and nearly meeting in the middle line of the forehead. In height it varies from 4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet at the shoulder. This species ranges from South Africa to the Congo on the west, and to the region of the Equator on the east of the continent. Firearms, and lately rinderpest, have greatly reduced the number of these creatures. They live and feed in herds, and, like the Indian species, are fond of the neighbourhood of water, in which they bathe, but are not so dependent on bathing and wallowing as the former.

Fully as formidable as the Indian buffalo, and much like it in habits, the African species is quite distinct. It has different horns, broad at the base and curled and tapering at the ends. Among the extreme measurements of the Indian buffalo's horns recorded is one of 12 feet 2 inches from tip to tip along the curve. Those of the African buffalo are seldom more than 6 feet, measured in the same way. By far the greatest number of hunting accidents in Africa are caused by the buffalo. Sir Samuel Baker shot a buffalo bull one evening near the White Nile. His men actually danced upon the body, when the animal rose to its feet, and sent them flying into the river like so many frogs. It then disappeared in the thick vegetation. On the following day, supposing that it must have died during the night, thirty or forty men, armed with double-barrelled guns, went to look for it. The result was thus : "recorded by Sir Samuel Baker They had not been ashore for many minutes when I first heard a shot and then a regular volley. My people returned with the head of the buffalo and a large quantity of meat, but they also carried the body of my best man, who, when leading the way through the high reeds, following the traces of blood, actually stumbled upon the buffalo lying in the swamp, and the light guns failed to stop its charge. The crooked horn had caught him behind the ear, and, penetrating completely through the neck, had torn out the throat as though it had been cut. The savage beast had then knelt upon the body, and stamped it into the muddy ground, until it fell beneath the fire of thirty men."

The head and body of a male Cape buffalo are 9 feet long. It is stated that the parasite conveyed by the tsetse fly remains in the blood of the buffalo (which is not affected by it), and that this forms a reserve whence the fly, after sucking the blood of the buffalo, poisons other animals.

The Hollow'horned Ruminants 217

THE CONGO BUFFALO.

This is a very small race, the height at the shoulder being about 3 feet 6 inches. The shape of the horns varies, but they are wrinkled at the bases and flattened, and turn upwards, ending in thin, sharp tips. The hair is bright reddish yellow. It is entirely a West African species. Sir Samuel Baker records an instance in which his brother was nearly killed by a small West African buffalo, probably one of the species in question. It is said to be less gregarious than the Cape buffalo, and usually found in pairs.

THE INDIAN OR WATER-BUFFALO.

is evidently a Very great interest attaches to this animal, if only from the fact that it species domesticated directly from the wild stock. It therefore deserves consideration both as a wild and as a domesticated animal. It is found wild in the swampy jungles at the foot of it isthe Himalaya, in the Ganges Delta, and in the jungles of the Central Provinces; also, it is an animal of greatbelieved, in the jungles of West Assam. Like the African species, size and strength, with short brown hair, white fetlocks, and immense long, narrow, flattened horns. It is almost aquatic by preference, passing many hours of each day wallowing in the water, or standing in any deep pool with only the tips of its nostrils and its horns out of the water. By general consent it is the most dangerous of Indian animals after the tiger. A buffalo bull when wounded will hunt for its enemy by scent as persistently as a dog hunting for a rabbit. A writer in County Life lately gave an account of a duel between himself, armed with a small and light rifle, and a buffalo bull, in which the latter hunted him for more than an hour, each time being driven off by a shot from the light rifle, and each time first went to Ceylon,returning to the search, until it was killed. Sir Samuel Baker, when he found the buffaloes practically in possession of the meadows round a lake in the neighbourhood of his quarters, and waged a war of extermination against the bulls, which were very dangerous.

Photo by the Duchess of Bedford'] I Woburn Abbey.

AMERICAN BISON.

Notice the difference in the fore and hind quarters of this animal and the European representative of the same group. (See page 216.) 28

The buffaloes of Ceylon are the same as those of India, but the horns are inferior in size. “The charge of a buffalo is a serious matter,” says Sir Samuel Baker. “Many animals charge when infuriated, but they can generally be turned aside by the stunning blow of a rifleshot, even if they be not mortally wounded. But a buffalo is a devil incarnate when it has once decided on the offensive; nothing — will turn it. It must be actually stopped by death, sudden and instantaneous, as nothing else will stop it. If not killed, it will assuredly destroy its adversary. There is no creature in existence so determined to stamp the life out of its opponents, and the intensity of its fury is unsurpassed i.: _ when a wounded bull rushes ” Photo by York Son) F Lyotting Hat, + forward upon its last desperate CAPE BUFFALO. charge. Should it succeed in Notice the striking difference depicted on this page between the two species of bnffalo—the overthrowing its antagonist, it eR will not only gore the body with its horns, but will kneel upon the lifeless form, and stamp it with its hoofs till the mutilated remains are beyond recognition.” The true Indian buffalo is usually shot from the back of an elephant. Hunting it on foot is dangerous in the extreme, for the buffalo can crash through obstacles which would prevent any man from making his way through them when escaping. When domesticated, the Indian buffalo loses most traces of its savageness; it is habitually managed by the children, who take the herds out to graze in the jungle, and drive them back, often riding on one of the bulls, at night. They dislike Europeans, and often show this by attacking them; but otherwise they are quite tame, and are L te tir epee Bat ac. docile when in harness or carrying goto LR ne er [North Finchley. burdens. The buffalo’s milk is very 4). ina; Se Sete ne EE SRT Let , is animal is found as a wild and domesticated species in India, It is valuable as a rich, and makes a much larger per- beast of draught and for the dairy.