10 



NO STRUGGLE NO SELECTION 



of the Zoological Gardens at Hamburg. He conceived 

 the idea, which for many years he has put in practice, 

 of not confining the larger carnivora in separate cages, 

 but of placing the several species together, lions, 

 tigers, leopards, hyaenas, bears, wolves, etc., in a large 

 enclosed space, where they have room to move about 

 freely. The animals have not been specially trained 

 for such companionship, and many have been added 

 to the collection immediately on being imported. Mr. 

 Hagenbach's idea was to assimilate as far as possible 

 the life of the various species to the conditions which 

 obtain in their native habitats. The result of the 

 comradeship thus established has been most happy. 

 They live longer, look better, have glossier coats than 

 the same animals kept in solitary confinement. 



Let us now seriously consider the applicability of 

 Darwin's doctrine of Natural Selection to the con- 

 ditions and phenomena of feral life as regards the 

 carnivora. Let us endeavour to look squarely in 

 the face the facts of the case, and draw such con- 

 clusions as appear inevitable. I select for my purpose 

 one of the larger felidre. 



Take a certain area of jungle enclosing 100 pairs 

 of adult tigers. The average age to which a tiger 

 attains is supposed to be about thirty years, in 

 which period it breeds, we will say, seven times, pro- 

 ducing on an average three offspring at a birth. The 

 exact figures are immaterial, but let us take them as 

 I have given them. In each generation, then, 2100 

 tigers are born, and of these only 200 individuals, 



