3*4 



HOOFED ANIMALS 





taking no effect on the hard hide and its protecting layer 

 of fat. 



Though the Wild Boar differs considerably in appearance 

 in various regions, the European specimen will well serve 

 for the others. Its colour is a dusky brown, or grey with 

 a tendency to black. The elongated head is set on a short 

 neck that rises out of a thick and muscular body. It is 

 variable in size, but is usually about four feet long and three 

 feet in height. The canine teeth in the males are long and 

 powerful and project beyond the upper lip. The female 

 is less in size and the tusks are not nearly so large. The 

 young ones are white and generally marked with yellow 

 longitudinal stripes. 



The Indian Wild Boar (Sus cristatus) is larger than the 



European animal and 

 is one of the most 

 formidable beasts 

 that can be met in the 

 chase. ' Pig-sticking ' 

 is a favourite sport in 

 India, surrounded 

 by all the elements of 

 danger, not only on 

 account of the natural 

 pugnacity of the 



animal, but the added difficulty of making progress in the 

 jungle where it makes its home. It is not much less active 

 than a cat, and its average weight of three hundred pounds 

 enforces the necessity of care in approaching it. When it 

 meets an enemy, it plunges forward and with a wriggling 

 movement of its head inflicts two deep cuts, one to the 

 right and the other to the left. 



The old Boars are generally solitary, but the females and 

 young are found in parties of ten or twelve up to as many 

 as a score. It is the male that is particularly dangerous, for 

 the lower tusks are sometimes a foot in length and quite 

 capable of ripping up a horse. Bruce relates being requested 

 by some natives to rid a district of Wild Boars that had 

 frequently ravaged their crops. ' Amongst us all we killed 

 five boars, all large ones, in the space of about two hours, 



TEETH OF THE WILD BOAR. 



