ch. xxvi ANIMALS WHICH PROVIDE SPORT 249 



accounted for, and the cry is still they come. More- 

 over, this total makes no account of the large numbers 

 which creep away to die from poison and other causes. 

 It may be anticipated that as long as there is game 

 about the lion will always be with us. He is a very 

 prolific beast and also a very hungry one. The 

 probability is that a great many more lions die from 

 hunger while young than from any other cause. 

 Therefore, up to a certain point, the more that are 

 killed will only mean that a greater proportion will 

 survive in the ordinary struggle for existence. Many 

 authorities say that each lion kills on the average a 

 beast once in four, three, or even two days. It seems 

 to me that this must be an exaggeration, when one 

 considers the great quantities of lions that exist in 

 certain districts where troops of a dozen and over are 

 quite common. If it were true there would not be 

 enough, or nearly enough, animals in existence to 

 supply their appetites. I would suggest that the 

 shortest average interval between the kill of each adult 

 lion is at least ten days. There is a possibility that a 

 moderate amount of shooting actually increases the 

 stock, as is the case with partridges. The large 

 parties are divided up and a greater proportion of old 

 males are killed off. 



Lions are mostly obtained by the following methods : 

 — (1) Chance. (2) Riding down on horseback. 

 (3) Tracking the spoor till the beast is marked down 

 in a gully or clump of bushes from which it may be 

 driven. (4) Laying out kills and visiting them at 

 daybreak. (5) Sitting up over water or over a kill at 

 night. (6) Spearing them, as is done by the Masai 

 and Nandi. (7) Baying them with trained dogs. 

 (8) Traps. (9) Poison. 



