144 CARNIVORA FISSIPEDIA. 



THE TIGER. 



Handsomer in color and markings but not as majestic in 

 appearance as the Lion, the Tiger is said to fully equal if 

 it does not excel in strength the king of beasts. 



As is the case with many mammals the general color of 

 the Tiger assimilates itself to the color of the country in 

 which it lives; and in the reedy jungles of India its stripes 

 are so difficult to distinguish, that it is often fully upon 

 people before they are aware of its presence. 



Most tigers will avoid a man, but some species watch 

 for human victims upon the highways, and at night even 

 enter the settlements to secure their prey. At one time it 

 was no unusual thing for whole villages to be abandoned 

 because of the terror inspired by these ferocious creatures, 

 but the number of these "man hunters" has been greatly 

 reduced by the "shikarees" employed by the local authori- 

 ties to destroy them, and by those who have pursued them 

 to secure the bounty offered by the British Crown for 

 Tiger Skins. 



Some scientists class the Mongolian Tiger and other 

 varieties of this animal found in Sumatra, Java, Corea 

 and the Maylayan Peninsula as belonging to a number of 

 different species, but in spite of some marked differences 

 in external appearance they are all local varieties of the 

 Felis-tigris. 



There are really only two marked and distinct varieties 

 of this animal; the Bengal Tiger, and the Mongolian or 

 Chinese Tiger. The Turkistan or Himalayan Tiger, while 

 its coarse fur is deeper and redder in color than that of 

 the Chinese Tiger, and sometimes even has brown stripes, 

 cannot be considered as a separate variety, the differences 

 noted being probably due to its more exposed habitat in 

 Turkistan, and on the high grounds of Asia and the 

 western Himalayas. 



To protect it from the cold of its elevated habitat 

 the Mongolian Tiger is covered with a rich, thick 

 fur from one and one-half to two inches in depth, in- 

 stead of the short hair which forms the coat of the 

 Bengal Tiger; and is thus easily distinguished from the 

 latter variety. The skins are sometimes beautifully 



