5o6 RECORDS OF BIG GAME 



The HUNTING-LEOPARD or CHITA (Cynaelurus jubatus). 



Although this animal is commonly called chita (cheetah) by Anglo- 

 Indian sportsmen, that name is at least as often applied in India to 

 the leopard. From all the true cats and lynxes the hunting-leopard 

 differs by the claws being capable of only partial withdrawal into their 

 sheaths, so that their tips are always exposed. The body also is more 

 slender, and the limbs are proportionately longer. The black spots on 

 the skin are small and without light centres, like those on the head of 

 the leopard. Length 7 feet or less, height at shoulder 30 to 39 inches. 

 A specimen speared by Lieut.-Col. L. L. Fenton in Kathiawar measured 

 6 feet ^ inch in length, the tail being 2 feet 2^- inches. 



This animal is the " Ihlose " of the Zulus and Swazis, and is distri- 

 buted sparsely throughout S.E. Africa. Hunting-leopards usually hunt 

 in couples, and fairly stalk their game, securing it with a swift rush at 

 the last. Mr. F. Vaughan Kirby writes that " I have seen a party of 

 six hunting together and another of eight. Though I have often 

 tried, I have never yet succeeded in running into one on horseback ; 

 they are incredibly swift of foot. They invariably kill their prey by 

 strangulation." 



Distribution. Africa and South- Western Asia, extending from Persia 

 to Western Turkestan and the countries east of the Caspian, 

 and eastwards into India ; unknown in the latter country on the 

 Malabar coast and to the north of the Ganges, as it also is in 

 Ceylon. 



Length. Length of Height at Loca , ity . Owner . 



ft. ins. ft. ins. 



-79 ... ... East Africa . . Capt. R. Meinertzhagen. 



-7 3} X.W. Rhodesia . . C. H. S. Bcllis. 



136* 11 >s. 

 -70 ... ... India . . . The late R. A. Sterndale. 



-66 2 6A ... Zululand ... A. Cameron. 



6 4^ 2 3^ 28i N.E. Transvaal . Dr. Percy Kendall. 



90 Ibs. 

 6 Q\ 2 2\ ... Near Rajkot, Kathiawar Lieut.-Col. L. L. Fenton. 



- Owner's measurements. 



The following are the dimensions of a specimen shot in the Eastern 

 Transvaal by Mr. F. Vaughan Kirby : 



Total length in straight line. Do. over all. Tail. Vertical height, (iirth of forearm. Do. shoulders. 



6 ft. 8 ins. 7 ft. 7 ins. 2 ft. 9 ins. 2 ft. ni ins. 8^ ins. 51 ins. 



