The Tiger 



Although it is probable that some man-eaters have 

 taken to their particular line from being disabled by 

 old age from pursuing more active prey, it is certain 

 that this is not the case with the majority, which are 

 often in the best condition. Rather is the acquisition 

 of the habit to be attributed to the boldness acquired 

 by cattle-lifting tigers, which on some particular occasion 

 summon up courage to attack the herdsman. Having 

 once discovered how much easier it is to kill a man 

 than a cow, such tigers ever afterwards practise man- 

 eating to a certain extent, although only a limited 

 number confine themselves exclusively to a diet of 

 human flesh. 



Several instances are on record where young elephants 

 have been killed by tigers, and in the Asian of May 1 5, 

 1900, a writer instances a case where, although the 

 evidence is circumstantial, an adult elephant appears 

 to have fallen a victim. 



After first mentioning that he was disinclined to 

 attach credit to the statements of the natives as to the 

 manner in which the elephant in question came by its 

 death, the writer states that, accompanied by some 

 friends, he visited the spot where the encounter had 

 taken place. His description of the scene that met his 

 eyes is as follows : — ■ 



" The place where the remains of the elephant lay 

 showed that a hard struggle had gone on between the 

 elephant and a tiger, or a couple of tigers for aught we 

 knew. The high grass-jungle where the elephant was 

 hobbled and let loose at night for grazing was trodden 

 and trampled down for about 40 square yards. The 

 elephant was hobbled, and therefore could not run 

 away from its assailants, and its cries of distress and 

 shrill trumpetings were heard by the villagers a couple 

 of miles off. The rope-hobbles were still on its legs, 

 and the half-severed ear and the holes on the skin of 

 its neck indicated the attack of a tiger, and left no doubt 

 in my mind that the beast was done to death by a pair 



305 X 



