THE SMALL BEARS. 



203 



long but powerful body carries a dog-like 



head, which, however, is adorned with pointed 



ears ending in long tufts of hair. The legs 



are short and strong; the feet provided with 



five free toes armed with strong non-retractile 



claws. The prehensile tail, covered with 



long hair, is a little 



longer than the body, 



which may attain the 



length of about two feet 



from the end of the 



muzzle to the root of 



the tail. The fur is 



rough and coarse, with 



long bristles on the 



body and still longer 



ones on the tail, and of 



a uniform dead black 



colour. 



The free life of this 

 beautiful climber is 

 little known. It is 

 essentially a nocturnal 

 animal, clambers slowly 

 about on the trees, and 

 renders all its move- 

 ments secure by means 

 of its tail. The den- 

 tition indicates an al- 

 most purely vegetable 

 diet. It comprises in all 36 teeth, and the 

 thick short canines are the only marks of 

 the carnivorous nature of the animal. The 

 premolars have blunt conical tubercles; the 

 carnassials are not developed in their char- 

 acteristic form; the true molars have almost 

 flat crowns. 



The animal has been but seldom seen in 

 a state of captivity, but often enough to let 

 us know that it is gentle and quiet in its 

 disposition, and that it by no means despises 

 animal food. 



It is much the same with the Panda 

 (Ailurus fulgens), fig. 103, a wonderfully 

 pretty little animal of about the size of a 

 plump cat, found on the southern slopes of 



Fig. 103. The Panda (Ailurus fulgens). 



the Himalayas at the height of about 6500 

 to 10,000 feet. The head resembles that of 

 a cat, or rather of a lynx, except that it wants 

 the tufts of hair present in the latter. The 

 muzzle is very short, the skull round, the face 

 surrounded by large bushy whiskers, the ears 



moderately large and 

 pointed, the body short 

 and compact, the paws 

 short, five-toed, the toes 

 armed with strong non- 

 retractile claws, the tail 

 pretty long, measuring 

 about 14 inches, while 

 the body measures 

 about half a yard or 

 more. The remarkably 

 long, thick, bushy, silky 

 fur has a beautiful dark 

 russet-red colour, with 

 a golden sheen on the 

 back, while the belly 

 and feet are black. The 

 ears are white within, 

 red on the outside, the 

 whiskers white, the 

 parts round the eyes 

 red. 



The free life of this 

 pretty little nocturnal 

 tree-climber, which is pursued for the sake of 

 its fur, is scarcely known. Judging from its 

 dentition we should conclude that it is essen- 

 tially a fruit-eater. It has in all 38 teeth; 

 and the tubercles of the molars are so blunt, 

 and the canines so little developed, that its 

 dentition might be compared with that of 

 an omnivorous ungulate. A single living 

 specimen 1 has been brought to Europe, but 

 the poor creature was ill, and recovered with 

 difficulty, and only for a short time. This 

 panda used to place itself in an attitude of 

 defence, getting up on its hind-legs like a 

 bear, and snorting and snarling vigorously, 



1 At least two living specimens have now been brought to Europe, 

 both kept in the gardens of the Zoological Society in London. TR. 



