251 



THE BEASTS OF PREY 



Where the Him- Wallich found this Bear in Nepal; 

 alayanBear Siebold, in his work on the animal 

 Liues. world of Japan, says that the Him- 



alayan Bear, called Cooma by the Japanese, is of 

 frequent occurrence not only in China and Japan, x 

 but also in most mountains of the continent and 

 the southern Asiatic islands. In northern India and 

 Cashmere he delights in forest thickets located 

 near fields and vineyards, while in southeastern 

 Siberia he prefers open forests of tall trees. He 

 climbs the highest trees with ease, and Radde says 

 that it is believed by the Birar-Tungus people, that 

 he rarely comes to the ground; in summer he makes 

 himself little bovvers in the tops of the trees by 

 bending and intertwining branches, and in winter 

 he sleeps in some hollow tree in a sitting posture. 

 They also say that he is cowardly and harmless, 

 having a small mouth and being able only to bite, 

 but not to lacerate those whom he attacks. Adams, 

 however, was told the reverse, and affirms that the 

 Black Himalayan Bear is feared by the inhabitants 

 of the mountains of India for very good reasons. 

 Blanford calls him the most carnivorous of all the 

 Bears of India, killing not only small Cattle and 

 Stags, but also large Cattle and Horses, and occa- 

 sionally feeding on carcasses, although his prin- 

 cipal food is of a vegetable nature. 



Himalayan Bears Captive Black Himalayan Bears 

 in the Tame are now seen in all larger zoo- 

 State. logical gardens. They resemble 



the Musquaw most in their conduct, having nearly 

 all his habits and customs ; their intellectual capaci- 

 ties are about on the same plane as those of the 

 American animal, and the best that can be said of 

 them is that they impress one favorably because of 

 the gracefulness of their movements. 



The Malayan Bear, The Malayan Bear or Bruang, or as 



Its Habitat and Rosenberg gives it more correctlv; 

 Traits. Biruang (Ursus malayanus) [which 



is by some authorities called the Malayan Sun Bear] 

 differs markedly from the species we have so far 

 considered. It is of elongated yet clumsy shape, 

 with a thick head, a wide muzzle, small- ears, very 

 small, stupid eyes, comparatively huge paws, long 

 and strong claws and short fur. Its length is about 

 fifty-six inches, its height about twenty-eight inches. 

 The fur is short, but close, and is of a lustrous black 

 hue, with the exception of the pale yellow sides of 

 the snout and a yellow or light mark on the breast 

 in a horseshoe or ring-like form. 



The Biruang inhabits Borneo, Sumatra, Java and 

 the Malayan Peninsula. Very little is known about 

 his life in the free state. He is known to be an 

 excellent climber, perhaps the best among all his 

 family, and is said to live as much in trees as on the 

 ground, and to feed almost exclusively on plants, 

 though he may occasionally devour a quadruped or 

 bird. According to Marsden, he causes great devas- 

 tations in the cocoa plantations on Sumatra and also 

 ascends cocoa palms to feed on the tender shoots. 

 He is said to be often kept in captivity in his native 

 country, for he may be allowed to play even with 

 children, being a good-natured, harmless fellow, 

 which may be given the freedom of the yard. Sir 

 Stamford Rallies, who possessed an animal of this 

 species, could let him go into the nursery and 

 never had to punish him by chaining him up, or by 

 blows. More than once the Bear went to the table 

 and asked for something to eat. He also proved 

 to be a consummate gourmand, as the only fruit he 

 would eat were mangoes. He was loved and hon- 



ored by the whole household and behaved in a 

 model way, never harming the smallest animal. He 

 often took his meals in company with a Dog, a Cat 

 and a small Parrot, out of the same dish. 



In our cages the Biruang proves to be very differ- 

 ent, at least in so far as my experiences go: he seems 

 stupid, though anything but good-natured, rather 

 exhibiting an obstinate, wicked temper. He rarely 

 makes friends with his keeper, in spite of the best of 

 care. 



The Polar Bear, If the rather slight differences in 

 a Distinct structure and habits exhibited by 

 Species. ti le common Bears entitle them, in 



the opinion of some naturalists, to be ranked as dis- 

 tinct species, it is easy to understand why the Polar 

 Hear ( Ursus maritimus) is regarded as the represent- 

 ative of an independent species. The first naviga- 

 tors who mention him believed him to be only a 

 variety of Master Bruin, whose fur had assumed the 

 snowy color peculiar to high latitudes; but this error 

 did not prevail long, as the material differences 

 between the Brown and the Polar Bear were soon 

 discovered. The latter is distinguished by an elon- 

 gated body, a long neck, short, strong legs, with 

 feet much longer and broader than those of the 

 generality of Bears, and which have their toes con- 

 nected by strong webs nearly to their middle. He 

 is by far the largest of all Bears, for his height at 

 the shoulder is from fifty-two to fifty-six inches, 

 while he attains a length of from one hundred to 

 one hundred and twelve inches. He weighs twelve 

 hundred pounds, and, if very fat, even sixteen hun- 

 dred pounds. 



The body of the Polar Bear is much clumsier, 

 though more elongated, and the neck much thinner 

 and longer than those of the Common Bear. The 

 head is long, flattened and comparatively narrow, 

 the back of the head is much elongated, the fore- 

 head is flat, the snout is thick at the root, pointed 

 in front ; the ears are small, short and rounded ; 

 the nostrils are wider and the mouth split less 

 deeply than those of the Brown Bear. The paws 

 are provided with thick, curved claws of moderate 

 length ; the tail is very short, thick and stub-like, 

 scarcely protruding from the fur. The long, shaggy, 

 rich and close fur consists of a short inner fur, and 

 of a plain, lustrous, soft outer coat of nearly woolly 

 texture. The hair is shortest on the head, neck and 

 back, longest on the hind quarters, the under por- 

 tion and the legs. There are a few bristle-like hairs 

 on the lips and over the eyes; but the eyelids have 

 no lashes. With the exception of a dark ring around 

 the eyes, the bare tip of the nose, the margins of 

 the lips and the claws, the Polar Bear is of a snowy 

 white color. The hue of young animals is a pure 

 silvery white, while the older individuals assume a 

 yellowish tinge, supposed to be caused by their oily 

 food. The season of the year has not the slightest 

 influence on the coloring. 



The Icy Home The Polar Bear inhabits the highest 

 of the Polar latitudes of the globe, the genuine 

 Bear. j ce re gj n of the pole, and is found 



only there where water is frozen, at least partially, 

 either a great part of the year or perennially. It 

 has not yet been established how far north he pene- 

 trates; but as far as Man has gone in those inhospi- 

 table regions, he has found the Bear to be a living 

 inhabitant of that zone so inimical to life, while to 

 the south he has been seen only in exceptional cases 

 as far as the 55th degree of North latitude. He 

 belongs to none of the three northern continents 





