840 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



Nmai-hka. In fact the remarkable thing to my mind is, not that this 

 weird animal should crop up here and there, but that it should have 

 escaped the observation of sportsmen so long. But of course the N.-E. 

 Frontier is a terra nova. 



It must be remembered, however, that the mountain ranges mentioned 

 above carry few peaks above 10,0U0 feet, and that takin are likely to be 

 confined to special localities. 



The existence of takin over a considerable length of the Salween- 

 Irrawaddy divide is proved. When I was at Chamutong, in the Upper 

 Salween valley (latitude 2S'^), in 1911, I saw skulls, which had come from 

 the mountains to the west, where the takin is regularly hunted. Mr. C. 0. 

 Lowis got one in Mekh valley, N.-E. Frontier, in 1913 ; and T saw a herd 

 of seven not many marches from Hpnnaw in 1914. 



After crossing the Salween valley, however, there is a big break in the 

 continuity ; and it is not till we have got far into the north-east that 

 takin re-appear. 



The reason for this may be guessed. The takin is an animal of the 

 high mountains. In summer its limit is probably not less than 10,000 feet 

 though it may descend considerably lower in winter especially in such a 

 country as the N.-E. Frontier, with its heavy snowfall. But altitude is 

 not everything and I have come to the conclusion that the presence of 

 much bamboo growth at high altitudes whether for shelter or food — is 

 essential to the takin's existence. 



If this is so we can easily mark out the probable limits of the takin's 

 distribution and say where it is most likely to be found ; and so far all 

 the available evidence points to the above conclusion or something very 

 like it. 



Thus w-e should not expect to find takin on the high but dry and rocky 

 Mekong-Yangtze divide, nor north of the sources of the Zayul and Taron 

 rivers, in S,-E. Tibet. It is not until we get right away vip into N.-W. 

 Ssuchuan, where a well distributed annvuxl rainfall again covers the moun- 

 tains with bamboo and Rhododendron forest, that this animal reappears. 

 The mountains of Shensi at 10,000 feet are similarly clothed with bamboo, 

 Rhododendron and Conifer forest. Whether the mountains of the Kansu- 

 Tibet Frontier also harbour the takin has yet to be proved, but I see no 

 reason to doubt it will eventually be met with there too ; it is not an 

 animal that fears evei: the severe cold of a Kansu winter. 



In the same way takin should come to light on the high range between 

 the Brahamaputra and the Dibang, and again between the Dibang and the 

 Zayul river. 



We have now answ-ered the two questions originally put^ and I might 

 sum up my opinion as follows. I am a firm believer in Mr. Mills' takin, 

 which is probably B. taxicolor, but might prove to be a local variety ; these 

 animals have probably migrated from Zayul province. 



In view of the great interest attaching to the geographical distribution 

 and variation of an animal like the takin whose habits and mode of life 

 in the wild state are practically unknown, any further light which can 

 be thrown on the matter by observers such as Mr. Mills would be most 

 valuable. 



F. KINGDON-WARD. 



BisLakVf^, -Sth March 1919. 



