THE LION IN SOUTH AFRICA 325 



kill the animal as quickly and artistically as a single old 

 male lion would have done, but bite it and claw it all over, 

 especially on the back of the neck, the tops of the shoulder- 

 blades, and on the elbow-joint and the insides of the thighs. 

 This inartistic work may possibly be owing to the fact that 

 when a family of lions is together the old lions leave the 

 younger animals to do the killing, in order to allow them to 

 learn their trade, or else because as soon as an old lion has 

 seized an ox, or a buffalo, or whatever animal it may be, the 

 young ones, being unable to restrain themselves, spring on to it, 

 and bite it all over, with the result that the unfortunate animal is 

 not so cleanly killed as he would have been had he been left to 

 one old lion. Horses, donkeys and zebras are killed by lions 

 by being bitten at the back of the neck, just behind the ears, 

 or else in the throat ; but always just round the head. As far 

 as my memory serves me, it is not usual for them to hold a 

 horse by the nose with one paw as they do an ox, and this ruse 

 is, I think, employed by them with horned animals in order to 

 prevent them making use of their horns. Full-grown giraffes 

 are sometimes killed by lions, though not very often. When 

 they do fall victims they are probably seized, and bitten high 

 up in the neck near the head, whilst lying down. Human 

 beings when carried off by lions are usually seized by the head, 

 and in that case are killed instantaneously, the canine teeth 

 being driven through the skull at the first bite. If the head is 

 not the part first bitten it will be the shoulder, and in that case 

 the man will probably have been lying on his side with the one 

 shoulder exposed. 



As far as my experience goes, I have never known an in- 

 stance of a lion carrying its prey raised from the ground. Even 

 such small and light animals as goats, impala antelopes, and 

 young wart-hogs are always held by the head or neck, and 

 dragged along the ground at the side of the lion. When a heavy 

 animal like a horse or an ox is dragged, it is always held by the 

 neck. I simply cannot believe in the possibility of a lion's springing 

 over a palisade and carrying the carcase of an ox with him. 



