5 o SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA 



Tiger, Leopard. Tigers are found, as mentioned above, in the Caucasus, and also 



etc. i n Persia in the Caspian provinces, Mazandaran, and Ghilan, lying 



northwards of the Elburz range, and corresponding in part to the ancient Hyrcania, 



so famous in classic times for the size and numbers of these animals. The 



Persian tiger is a somewhat rough-haired race of the species, known as Felts 



tigris virgata. The leopard, which is absent from Sind and the Punjab, is found 



in many districts within the limits treated of in the present chapter, the Caucasian 



and Persian representative of the species forming a local race known as F. pardus 



panthera, and it ma}' be this form which occurs in Kashmir. The Indian fishing-cat 



(F. viverrina) enters the Mediterranean region in Sind. In Rajputana a little to 



the north we meet the Indian desert-cat (F. ornata), which may thus be ranked 



with the animals of south-western Asia, as well as with those of India. The 



hunting-leopard, which belongs to a different genus, is distributed over a great 



part of Africa, and through Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and India, so that it 



belongs as much to south-western Asia as to Africa or India, although it is more 



familiar in connection with the Indian area. 



wolves and The European wolf is known to occur as far east as Baluchistan 



jackals. an( j -western Sind, and its distribution probably extends into the 



northern Punjab. The south-western boundary of its range is the Indus, and as 



that is at the same time, generally speaking, the western boundary of the Indian 



wolf (Canis pallipes), the latter may enter the Mediterranean region in this district, 



as it certainly does the Ethiopian region in the south of Arabia. 



The typical jackal (C. aureus) has full claim to be called an animal of the 

 Mediterranean region, as it ranges from Burma to the Caucasus, and farther west 

 through Turkey and Greece to Dalmatia. In North Africa it is replaced not only 

 in Egypt and Abyssinia but also in the countries between the Mediterranean and the 

 Sahara by other species (C. anthus and C. lupaster). The hairs of the tail are 

 reddish brown, but black at the base and tip. The Asiatic jackal, whose tail 

 measures, like that of the other species, one-third of the head and body, and whose 

 length is from 24 to 29 inches, is yellowish, or pale rusty red mingled with black 

 above, and paler below ; the ears and the inner sides of the legs being redder than 

 the other parts of the body, and the tip of the tail black. The variety inhabiting 

 eastern Europe and Asia Minor resembles the Indian form, and is of a pale dirty 

 yellow with a rusty red hue. The Egyptian jackal (C. lupaster) is much larger, 

 and has shorter ears, the sides of the body being yellowish grey and the hind-legs 

 reddish yellow. The jackal of north-western Africa (C. anthus) is, on the other 

 hand, a smaller, paler, sharper-nosed, and more elegantly built animal. 



The jackal lives on plains and mountains, in forests and fields, even in populous 

 towns. It is found in the Himalaya up to a height of 4000 feet and even higher, 

 especially in the neighbourhood of the hill-stations, and is common on the Nilgiris 

 of southern India. It occurs solitary, in twos, or in packs, sometimes of consider- 

 able size. Mainly but not exclusively nocturnal, during the cold season jackals may 

 be seen wandering about at all hours of the day, not unf requently even in villages. 

 Its food is of various kinds, and consists not only of freshly killed mammals and 

 birds, but also of carrion, and in case of need of vegetable substances, such as 

 sugar-cane. 



