200 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



tobacco-pouches, and pulled the cork out of the 

 alcohol bottle; and an important diary had just re- 

 ceived the first bites when the mischief was fortu- 

 nately discovered and the Bears were driven away. 

 Training and Polar Bears taken very young may be 



Taming Young tamed and trained to a certain degree. 

 Polar Bears. They allow their owner to visit their 

 cage, and may on occasions go to the length of 

 romping around with him, but still captivity is never 

 to their taste. Even in their native country they 

 feel uncomfortable when housed, even during their 

 earliest youth, and the greatest pleasure that can be 

 given them is to allow them to roll in the snow and 

 on the ice. In the spacious compartments provided 

 with deep and wide tanks, such as zoological gardens 

 nowadays construct for them, a Polar Bear may be 

 tolerably content and play with companions for 

 hours in the water, or even amuse himself with 

 wooden blocks, balls and similar things. As his age 

 advances he becomes irritable and violent. Toward 

 others of his kind he is sulky and intractable where 

 food is concerned, though a real fight seldom breaks 

 out between two Bears of equal strength, the mutual 

 anger usually venting itself in furious growling. 

 With very good care it is possible to keep Polar 

 Bears for several years. 



The flesh and fat of the Polar Bear are much es- 

 teemed by all inhabitants of high latitudes. Even 

 European sailors eat the meat, and, after it has been 

 separated from the fat, do not find it unpalatable; but 

 they assert that the flesh frequently disagrees with 

 those who eat it. The liver is said to be especially 

 harmful and some maintain that it is actually poi- 

 sonous. The fur of the Polar Bear is foremost in 

 value among all Bear skins and brings a price of 

 from fifty to one hundred and twenty-five dollars. 



THE SLOTH BEAR. 



The Labiated or Sloth Bear, called "Aswal" in 

 India (Melursus labintits), is quite different from the 

 Bears proper, which we have so far considered, both 

 in shape and habits, and forms a species by itself. 

 It is distinguished by a short, thick body; short legs, 

 rather large feet, whose toes are armed with im- 

 mense scythe-shaped claws; an elongated, truncated 

 snout, whose lips may, at will, be very much pro- 

 truded, and long, shaggy hair, which forms a mane 

 on the neck and falls low down on both sides. All 

 these features combine to give the animal so pecu- 

 liar an appearance as to entitle it to be ranked as a 

 distinct species. How remarkable the animal must 

 be is best seen from the fact that it was first de- 

 scribed as the Ursine Sloth (Bradypus ursinus) and 

 in one book was even styled "the Nameless Ani- 

 mal." In Europe the Sloth Bear first became known 

 toward the end of the last century, and in the begin- 

 ning of the present century the first living specimens 

 were imported. 



The length of the Labiated Bear, including the 

 stump- like tail which measures from four to five 

 inches, may be as much as seventy-two inches; his 

 shoulder height is about thirty-four inches. The 

 head is flat, the forehead wide and flat, and ends in 

 a long, narrow, tapering snout, partaking of the 

 proboscis in character and of very peculiar forma- 

 tion. The nostrils are very mobile, and the long 

 extensible lips are still more so. Even when at rest 

 they project to a considerable degree over the jaw, 

 but when circumstances require it, they may be 

 elongated, projected, folded and turned to such an 

 extent as to form a kind of a tube, partaking of 



nearly all the qualities of a proboscis. The long, 

 flat, narrow tongue, truncated at its extremity, helps 

 to form and use this tube and in this way the animal 

 is not only capable of seizing and drawing to itself all 

 kinds of objects but, so to speak, to suck them in. 

 The remainder of the head is furnished with short, 

 blunt, erect ears and small, slanting, nearly pig-like 

 eyes. Very little of the head is seen, however, as 

 even the greater part of the snout, which is grown 

 with short hair, is covered by the strikingly long, 

 bristly hair of the top of the head. This kind of 

 fur also clothes the tail and some parts of the body, 

 especially the neck, and is so long as to form a 

 dense, shaggy mane. In the middle of the back 

 the tangled mass of hair usually forms two large, 

 puffy bumps, giving the Bear the appearance of 

 being hump-backed. In this way the front part of 

 the animal has a remarkably clumsy appearance, 

 which is materially enhanced by the heavy, un- 

 wieldy body and the short, stout legs. Even the 

 feet are peculiar and the exceedingly long, sharp, 

 curved claws are decidedly remarkable and quite 

 Sloth-like. The incisor teeth are usually lost very 

 early in the animal's life and the jaw thereby gains 

 an aspect which is difficult to describe. The color 

 of the coarse hair is a brilliant black ; the snout is 

 gray or dingy white, and the breast shows a horse- 

 shoe-shaped white patch. Sometimes the toes also 

 have a light tinge. The claws are usually of a 

 whitish, horny hue, and the soles are black. The 

 young animals differ from the old ones by a slighter 

 development of the mane on the head and shoulders, 

 the ears therefore protruding and appearing rela- 

 tively larger; and their claws are darker than those 

 of the older animals. The snout is also usually of 

 a yellowish-brown hue from the point to the fore- 

 head, and the horseshoe-shaped mark on the breast 

 is yellowish white. 



Habitat and The native country of the Sloth Bear 

 Life of Sloth is India, from near the foot of the 

 Bears. Himalayas to its southern extremity, 



and Ceylon. He delights in a hilly country, rich in 

 jungles, and though he is much hunted, he is still 

 one of the most common of the large animals of 

 India, though in some parts he may be considered 

 extinct. On Ceylon, according to Tennent, he hides 

 in the densest forests, in the hilly country on the 

 northern and southeastern coast, and he is found as 

 rarely in higher mountains as in the damp valleys. 

 In the region of Kurrachee he was so common dur- 

 ing a prolonged drought that the women had to 

 give up their beloved baths and ablutions in the 

 rivers, because Bears crossed their way not only on 

 land but in the water also, the latter often uninten- 

 tionally, for they had fallen into the water while 

 drinking and could not climb back on the shore on 

 account of their clumsiness. During the hottest 

 hours of the day this Bear lies in caverns, either 

 natural or dug out by himself, preferably choosing 

 those between rocks on the sloping sides of hills or 

 in precipices. In spite of his thick, dark fur he is 

 not very sensitive to heat. Usually he spends the hot 

 day in a cool hiding-place, however, and goes forth 

 at night, though he is also often seen in the morn- 

 ing and evening. His senses are not acute, with the 

 exception of his smelling faculty. He hears and 

 sees so badly that no great difficulties are presented 

 in creeping quite close to him. He climbs fairly 

 well in the rocks and is wont, after the fashion of 

 other Bears, to roll head over heels down some steep 

 declivity when frightened or when shot at. 



