94 



THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Photo fa A. S. Rutland &* Soni 



CAPE HUNTING-DOG 



This animal hunt: in packs. It ts very active and mcst destructive to large game 

 oj many ktr;d< 



killed nearly all the deer in the large 

 forests near Omsk seme years ago. 

 Across the Himalaya there are several 

 species, cue of them as far cast as 

 Burma; Init the must famous are the 

 Red Dogs of the Deccan. They 

 frequent both the jungles and the 

 hills ; but their favourite haunt is the 

 uplands of the Indian Ghats. They 

 are larger than a jackal, much 

 stronger, and hunt in packs. They 

 have only ten teeth on each side, 

 instead of eleven, as in the other 

 dogs and foxes. There is no doubt 

 that these fierce hunting dogs actually 

 take prey from the tiger's jaws, and 

 probably attack the tiger itself. They 

 will beset a tiger at any time, and the latter seems to have learnt from them an instinctive tear 

 of dogs. Not so the leopard, which, being able to climb, has nothing to fear even from the 

 "dhole." A coffee-planter, inspecting his grounds, heard a curious noise in the forest bordering 

 his estate. On going round the corner of a thick bush, he almost trod on the tail of a tiger 

 standing with his back towards him. He silently retreated, but as he did so he saw that there 

 was a pack of wild dogs a few paces in front of the tiger, yelping at him, and making the 

 peculiar noise which had previously attracted his attention. Having procured a rifle, he 

 returned with some of his men to the spot. The tiger was gone, but they disturbed a large 

 pack of wild dogs feeding on the body of a stag. This, on examination, proved to have been 

 killed by the tiger, for there were the marks of the teeth in its neck. The dogs had clearly 

 driven the tiger from his prey ami appropriated it. The dread of the tiger for these wild dogs 

 was discovered by the sportsmen of the Nilgiri Hills, and put to a good use. They used to 

 collect scratch packs and hunt up tigers in the woods. The tiger, thinking they were the 

 dreaded wild pack, would either leave altogether or scramble into a tree. As tigers never do 

 this ordinarily, it shows how wild dogs get on their nerves. 



Several South American wild dogs and foxes are included in the series with the wolves and 

 jackals. Among these are Azaka's Dog and the Raccoon-dog. These are commonly called 

 foxes, though they have wolf-like skulls. 



The Dingo 



The only non-marsupial animal of Australia when the continent was discovered was the 

 Wii.n Dog, or Dingo. Its origin is not known ; but as soon as the settlers' flocks and herds be- 

 gan to increase its ravages were most serious, though doubtless some of the havoc with which it 

 was accredited was due in a great measure to runaways from domestication. Anyhow, in the 

 dingo the settlers found the most formidable enemy with which they had to contend, and vigor- 

 ous measures were taken to reduce their numbers and minimise their ravages, so that by now 

 they are nearly' exterminated in Van Diemen's Land and rare on the mainland of Australia. 



It is a fine, bold dog, of considerable size, generally long-coated, of a light tan colour, and 

 with pricked-up ears. It i-- easily tamed, and some of those kept in this country have made af- 

 fectionate pets. Puppies are regularly bred and sold at the Zoological Gardens. The animal 

 has an elongated, flat head which is carried high ; the fur is soft, and the tail bushy. In the wild 

 state it is very muscular and fierce. 



