CHAPTER XVIII. 

 DISAPPEARANCE OF THE WILD ANIMALS 



THROUGHOUT India generally the larger wild 

 animals are now less numerous than they formerly 

 were. Over certain large tracts some of these animals 

 have even entirely disappeared. This diminution and 

 disappearance is ordinarily attributed partly to the 

 greater numbers killed by sportsmen since our acquisi- 

 tion of the country, but in a greater degree to the 

 increase of cultivation that has taken place under our 

 rule, for this increase of cultivation has reduced the 

 extent of the forests and waste lands in which alone 

 these larger wild animals are able to exist. 



No doubt this explanation, to a certain extent, is 

 correct ; still it is not altogether satisfactory, for it 

 leaves some important facts altogether unexplained. 

 The disappearance of the larger animals has in several 

 cases occurred previous to our rule, and it has also 

 occurred where the conditions of the country have 

 apparently remained unchanged. The subject is one 

 which I do not possess sufficient knowledge to properly 

 discuss. I will, however, mention such facts as I 

 happen to be aware of They relate to three of the 

 largest and most powerful of the wild animals — the 



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