232 MAMMALIA OF INDIA. 
left there quite lost their bark in thirty-three years, and it is said that 
a few caught and removed after that period reacquired it very slowly. 
We may then, I think, accept Darwin’s opinion that “it is highly 
probable that the domestic dogs of the world have descended from two 
good species of wolf (C. Zuwpus and C. /atrans), and from two or three 
other doubtful species of wolves (namely, the European, Indian, and 
North African forms), from at least one or two South American canine 
species, and from several races or species of the jackal.” 
No. 245. CANIS PALLIPES. 
The Indian Wolf ( Jerdon’s No. 135). 
Native Names.—Bheria, Bhera, North and Central India ; Zandagh, 
South India; JVekra, in some parts; Bighana, Hunder, or Hurar, in 
Bundelcund ; Zo/a, Canarese ; Zoralu, Telegu. 
Hasitrat.—Throughout the whole of India, though Hodgson says he 
has not found it in the Himalayas, nor can I find any notice of it in 
Burmah, and it is likewise absent in Ceylon. 
DescripTIon.—‘‘ Hoary fulvous or dirty reddish-white, some of the 
hairs tipped with black, which gives it a grizzled appearance ; somewhat 
reddish on the face and limbs, the latter paler than the body ; lower 
parts dingy white ; tail thinly bushy, slightly black-tipped ; ears rather 
small” (/erdon). But, as a matter of fact, wolves vary greatly in 
colour. Every one who has seen much of them will bear testimony to 
this. Sir Walter Elliot says: “Several adults that I shot differed in 
their colours and general character.” The late Brigadier-General 
McMaster, in his notes on Jerdon, wrote: “‘ Wolves vary a good deal 
in colour and length of hair, probably with season and climate. I have 
seen some of light reddish-grey, and others much darker than any 
jackal ;” and he speaks of another “ nearly as red as an Irish setter.” 
S1zE.—Head and body, about 3 feet ; tail, 16 to 18 inches; height at 
shoulder, 26 inches, 
The Indian wolf is somewhat inferior in size to the European one, and 
is probably less ferocious, or at all events its ferocity is not called out 
by the severity of the climate, as in the case of C. Zupus. We never hear 
of them attacking bodies of men and overwhelming them by numbers. 
In 1812 twenty-four French soldiers were surrounded by an immense 
troop of wolves; and though, it is said, the men killed two or three 
hundred of their assailants, they had to succumb at last to numbers, and 
were all devoured. ‘This was doubtless an extreme case, but in the 
severe winters of the north, when these animals band together and roam 
abroad in search of food, they will attack anything that comes in their 
way, although a single wolf will hardly ever dare to meddle with a 
man. 
