LEOPARDS AND CHEETAHS 



tah is much taller, and his whole form is much more like 

 a dog's than that of a cat, with the exception of his round 

 head and extremely long tail. Then, the spots of the two 

 animals are entirely different, those of the cheetah being 

 simply solid black or dark brown, while those of the leopard 

 are like irregular, sometimes open, rings of mostly black 

 color, with the center of an almost pure white, making the 

 markings of the ordinary leopard much more beautiful 

 than those of the plain-spotted cheetah. Another distinct 

 difference between the two is that the cheetah is not able 

 to draw in the claws of its paws as the other cats do. One 

 can, therefore, at once see the difference between a track 

 made by a leopard or by a cheetah, the claw marks in the 

 latter's track showing plainly, like those made by hyenas 

 or dogs. 



The hunting leopard is found almost all over Africa 

 and India, but does not seem to go east of the Bay of 

 Bengal. In India he is captured, tamed, and often used 

 by the native princes for sport instead of hounds. This 

 has doubtlessly given the cheetah the name of " hunting 

 leopard." He is one of the swiftest mammals, being capa- 

 ble of remarkable speed for a couple of hundred yards, but 

 after that distance he soon gets out of wind, and may 

 easily be outdistanced by a good horse. 



The natives have practically no reason to fear the hunt- 

 ing leopard, which usually preys on the smaller antelopes, 

 and very seldom tackles a kid or a lamb. I have heard 

 from *' reliable " natives that the cheetah often kills and 

 eats the larger game birds, such as the goose, the partridge, 

 the guinea fowl, and even the giant bustard, measuring 

 sometimes as much as ten feet between the wings. I have 



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