SPORT IN WESTERN CHINA 189 



Wild Dogs (Tsai Gho) haunt parts of western Szechuan 

 and quickly drive or kill out all game animals. One afternoon, 

 in 1908, when after pheasants, I saw eight or ten of these beasts 

 within a mile of the hamlet of Tatienchih, situated at the foot 

 of Wa shan. There were three or four together and very 

 brazen, allowing me to approach within 100 yards of them 

 before they slowly moved off. Wild pigs are common in this 

 neighbourhood, and on one occasion Mr. Zappey saw a pig 

 attacked and partly devoured in a few minutes by three of 

 these Wild Dogs. This animal is rather larger than a Fox 

 and decidedly lanky in appearance. The general colour is 

 rufous- grey, the front part of the lower legs being black. The 

 hair is long, and the animal probably represents a local race. 

 Unfortunately, our expedition failed to secure a specimen. 



Foxes are more or less common all over central and 

 Western China, and enormous numbers of skins are imported 

 into China from Thibet. The ordinary kind met with in 

 central China has rather short fur, reddish-chestnut in colour, 

 and is of fair size. The Thibetan animal is more fulvous in 

 colour and has longer fur. The skins known as Hu-U p'i are 

 much esteemed by the Chinese for lining silk garments, and 

 are worth Tls. i'40 to 175, according to quality. In Hupeh 

 this animal is colloquially known as " Mao Gho," and this 

 particular species may be Vulpes lineiventer, which is common 

 in eastern China. 



Three or four species of Fox {Vulpes filchneri, V. ladacensis, 

 V. aurantioluteus, V. waddelli) have been reported amongst 

 the trade-skins which enter China from Thibet. 



Raccoon Dogs (Gho Wan-tsze) are rather common at low 

 altitudes in central and Western China. Their burrows are 

 frequently met with, and they levy a severe toll on pheasants 

 in particular. On one occasion in Hupeh I killed and marked 

 down a hen pheasant, and on going to retrieve it a few minutes 

 later, found that the bird had fallen opposite the mouth of 

 one of these burrows and had been drawn inside by a Raccoon 

 Dog. The animal found in Hupeh is about the size of a large 

 tom-cat, dark brown in colour, with a short, bushy, ringed tail. 

 I do not know what particular species this kind is referable 

 to, possibly it is Nyctereuies procyonides. In western Szechuan 



