NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



of that country for their destruction, and in 1911 

 awards were given for fifty Hunting Leopards. 

 The natural prey of these carnivorous animals con- 

 sists of various species of antelopes, small animals, 

 such for instance as hares, and the larger game birds. 

 If a stock farmer should elect to settle down within 

 the hunting-grounds of a Chita, he must make up 

 his mind to hunt down, kill, or poison the beast, or 

 else submit to his stock being constantly raided by 

 this famous hunter of the plains. 



The name Vlackte tijger given to this animal by 

 the Dutch voortrekkers is very appropriate, for it 

 means " the tiger of the plains." Except when 

 frequently hunted or when in the neighbourhood 

 of man, the Chita hunts by day, and seems most 

 active during cloudy weather. In the wild parts 

 of South Africa seldom traversed by civilised man, 

 the Chita still frequents the open grassy veld, or 

 where the ground is sparsely covered with low 

 scrubby bush. However, it is an exceedingly shy 

 and secretive animal, and carefully avoids its most 

 dreaded of enemies man, for when he makes his 

 appearance and settles down upon the land, it 

 retires into the more broken bushy parts of the 

 country. From these secure retreats it ranges 

 forth at nights hi search of prey, and harries the 

 flocks and herds of the settler. 



In a dark, rugged, bush-covered kloof in the 

 Drakensberg Mountains in Natal, we once located 

 a pair of Chitas. They inhabited a large cavity 

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