256 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Creek ranch, 1903; and Sierra de los Caballos, in about 1904 

 or 1905. Since these dates, no later instances are mentioned, 

 and probably the species has been reduced to near the vanishing 

 point in the United States. It has been found to kill cattle on 

 the ranches in these regions and hence is regarded as a menace 

 by the ranchers, to be killed wherever found. Probably it still 

 occurs in small numbers in northeastern Mexico. According 

 to Nelson (1916) the jaguar has little of the truculent disposi- 

 tion of the leopard. In parts of Mexico he made careful in- 

 quiry without hearing of a single case where one had attacked 

 human beings, although the natives everywhere fear it on ac- 

 count of its size and strength. He writes: "Jaguars are very 

 destructive to the larger game birds and mammals of their 

 domain and to horses and cattle on ranches. On many large 

 tropical ranches a 'tigrero,' or tiger hunter, is maintained, 

 whose duty it is immediately to take up the trail when a 'tigre' 

 makes its presence known, usually by killing cattle. The 

 hunter steadily continues the pursuit" in which dogs are ordi- 

 narily used, until the animal is killed or driven far away. He 

 mentions that along the Mexican coast in spring, when sea 

 turtles come ashore to lay eggs, fresh tracks of jaguars may be 

 found showing where they have traveled along the beach for 

 miles in search of the eggs. In the province of Guerrero, 

 Mexico, the hunters have a way of imitating the call of the 

 jaguar during the mating period and thus enticing it within 

 shot. 



Order ARTIODACTYLA : Even-toed Ungulates 



The cloven-hoofed herbivores form a large and complex 

 group. About a hundred genera are usually recognized from 

 the Holarctic, Oriental, Ethiopian, and Neotropical Regions. 

 The artiodactyls do not occur in Australia, but the deer reach 

 Celebes, and the pig family is found on most of the oceanic 

 islands, probably carried by man to the islands west of Celebes. 

 European and American deer have been introduced into New 

 Zealand and some of the other islands, where they are doing 

 well. 



Since these herbivores are everywhere hunted for food and 

 sport, many forms have become greatly reduced in numbers. 

 There are three major groups: 



(1) Suina, the hippopotamuses, pigs, and peccaries. 



