LION 



3454 



LION 



victim with a single blow, but if not, the huge 

 paw may grasp the nose of the animal and jerk 

 back its head so as to break the neck, or the 

 cruel teeth may fasten themselves on the blood 

 vessels in the throat. When several lions take 

 part in a slaughter the leader usually consumes 

 a "lion's share of the feast," while the others 

 help themselves to what may remain. 



The lion is generally supposed to be a fear- 

 less creature, possessing those qualities one ex- 

 pects to find in a king of the animal world. 

 Yet, true to its catlike instincts, it does not 

 hesitate to wait in ambush for its prey and to 

 steal upon it unawares. Varying stories are 

 told of its bravery and of its cowardice, of its 

 scorn of all but freshly-killed food, and of its 

 greed. It is undoubtedly true, however, that, 

 "when driven to bay, it will battle with man and 

 beast with the utmost daring and ferocity, and 

 the hunter who confronts an aroused lion should 

 fight it rather than attempt to flee. 



Hunting the King of Beasts. The excite- 

 ment afforded by lion-hunting is known to 

 readers of "big game" literature. Colonel 

 Roosevelt in African Game Trails says that in 

 his opinion the lion is the most dangerous 

 opponent of the hunter under ordinary condi- 

 tions. The most common method of hunting 

 the animal is to drive it from its lair and then 

 to fight it in the open. A charging lion must 

 be fired upon repeatedly and accurately so 

 long as it seems able to advance, for the hunter 

 who comes in contact with the animal's teeth 

 and claws is almost certain to lose his life. 

 Repeating rifles are used by modern sports- 

 men, and the hunting takes place on foot and 

 not on horses or elephants. Tracking the lion 

 in the jungle or waiting for it near a water 

 hole, methods which call for fighting at close 

 quarters, are practiced by some hunters, but 

 they are considered dangerous and even fool- 

 hardy. 



The American sportsman, Paul J. Rainey, 

 who engaged in a notable lion hunt in Africa 

 in 1911, made use of a number of tracking and 

 fighting dogs with remarkable success. The 

 former were trained to pursue the trail of a lion 

 and bring it to bay, and the latter to worry it 

 until the hunters came upon the scene. Rainey 

 was accompanied by a squad of camera men, 

 and the expedition was in due time presented 

 to the public on the moving-picture screen. 

 The educational value of these pictures was 

 apparent to all who viewed them, for the actual 

 life of the lion in the wilds was brought viv- 

 idly before the spectator. It is not an easy 



matter to appreciate the difficulties attending 

 such an undertaking, and it was only through 

 the utmost attention to detail and unwearying 

 patience that results were accomplished. 



In Captivity. The lordly lion pacing rest- 

 lessly up and down its cage is a source of un- 

 failing interest to the visitor at the "zoo" or 

 circus menagerie. "Has this noble creature 

 visions of a home in a far-off desert or jungle?" 



LIONS, MALE AND FEMALE 



thinks the fascinated bystander. As a matt 

 of fact, lions breed so readily in captivity it is 

 probable that the majority of those now in 

 zoological gardens never saw the native haunts 

 of their ancestors. Life in the "zoo" cage 

 seems not to diminish their natural ferocity 

 nor to impair their physical superiority. They 

 are fed on raw beef, and the wooden floors of 

 their great wire cages are scrubbed and disin- 

 fected daily. The kittens, like their domestic 

 cousins, are playful and. affectionate. 



Lions have sufficient intelligence to learn a 

 number of interesting tricks, but it is usually 

 the element of danger that appeals most to the 

 spectators at a performance of trained lions. 

 They are never fully to be trusted, even the 

 most docile, and terrible injuries are sometimes 

 inflicted by infuriated animals on trainers or 

 their assistants. 



In Story, Art and History. No other of the 

 wild animals appears so often in story, art and 

 history as the lion. The familiar story of 

 Androcles and the Lion was a favorite among 

 the ancient Romans. Androcles was a slave 

 who ran away from a cruel master, hid himself 

 in the den of a lion, and while there extracted 

 a thorn from the foot of the beast that occu- 

 pied this place of refuge. Years afterwards 

 Androcles was commanded to go into the arena 

 at Rome to fight a ferocious lion. The animal, 

 instead of leaping upon him, fondled him like 

 a pet dog, and when the spectators asked him 



