CH. V 



MAN AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS 77 



time, did uot regulate their own demands. It was only 

 gradually that mankind became aware that, with the 

 destruction of forests, not only did the supply of many 

 benefits cease, but that other evils followed in the 

 train of the destruction. Thus forest laws were 

 gradually evolved, first in Germany and France and then 

 in other countries ; but even now in some civilised 

 countries, such as the United States of America and 

 Canada, the Forest Departments have not yet been 

 successful in staying the wholesale destruction of forests, 

 although they have got as far as to get it admitted 

 that the supplies of timber are by no means as in- 

 exhaustible as they were held to be, and that they are 

 within measurable distance of total disappearance. 



In the Tropics, large portions of which are inhabited 

 by uncivilised tribes, some of which are nomadic, and 

 others by people who have not been educated to the 

 necessity of forest preservation, it is only in recent 

 years that anything has been done to stay the destruction 

 of forests, and even in these regions a large percentage 

 of damage has been done by European settlers. To the 

 Indian Empire belongs the credit of taking the lead in 

 tropical forest management, and gradually other Govern- 

 ments are following this example. But in some cases 

 only a small beginning has been made, while in others 

 nothing at all. 



We shall now turn to the nature of damage done 

 to the forest by man and domestic animals. In order 

 to follow the sequence of the preceding chapter I shall 

 first refer to the domestic animals. 



The injury to forests done by domestic animals 

 is caused by grazing and browsing, and to these can 

 be added the lopping of boughs for fodder and litter. 



There are few domestic animals in the Tropics which 

 feed entirely on herbaceous plants. Most of them will 

 not hesitate to attack the leaves and succulent shoots 

 of trees or saplings of certain kinds which come within 

 their reach. Among them the goat must be given 

 the first place as a forest destroyer, for it not only eats 



