THE AARD OR EARTH WOLF 



would not do if the Almighty had made them the 

 killers of sheep ; and, again, natural history would 

 tell us better. The ' Wehr Wolf,' as it is called, 

 is no carnivorous animal ; it does as much good as 

 the Korhaan in killing ants, tock-tockies, etc. I 

 doubt if a Manhaar Jackal kills mice, or any animal 

 — only insects, not even birds which lay on the 

 ground ; they may eat the eggs, but that is 

 doubtful. 



" I have lived on the borders of the Kalahari for 

 the past thirty years. We have shot everything, 

 and seen every animal, from the so-called tiger 

 (leopard) to the meerkat, and seen Manhaar Jackals 

 in droves of seven to ten or more, but have not seen 

 them at a carcass, even when the flesh is fresh." 



It seems apparent that this jackal, notwith- 

 standing its defective teeth, does attack and kill 

 small stock. Finding sheep and lambs easy prey, 

 the manhaar would naturally become confirmed 

 in this habit, which would spread by imitation. 



An animal driven by hunger readily changes its 

 natural habits, as we all know. By nature the 

 manhaar is nocturnal, but numbers of instances 

 have come under my observation of these animals 

 dashing out of cover in the daytime and attacking 

 lambs, sheep, and poultry. If the manhaar has 

 not already resorted to killing stock on any individual 

 farm — and I know of numbers of farms where it 

 does no harm at all — it is not v^se to allow it 

 to freely breed, for, when its species multiply, 



75 



