304 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



rocky ground and feed on leaves, roots, bulbs and shoots. The Somali 

 dassie (Procavia brucei somalica) also lives among rocks and is en- 

 tirely herbivorous. 4 No species of this order is of economic importance. 



ORDER PROBOSCIDEA ELEPHANTS 



Asiatic elephants have long been trained to work, and are employed 

 advantageously in various industries, such as handling heavy timbers. 

 Their great strength makes them very valuable for certain kinds of 

 work. A large elephant will carry from 1800 to 2500 pounds on its 

 back according to Austin, 1200 according to Jennison, and can push 

 or pull heavy loads, exerting a force equal to that of 50 men. 1 Trained 

 elephants are successfully used in hunting tigers in India. 2 



It is generally believed that the African elephants cannot be domesti- 

 cated, but they are said to have been trained for service in war by the 

 ancient Romans and Carthagians. 3 Oswell, according to Selous, thinks 

 the Carthagians may have used Asiatic elephants obtained in India. 4 

 Recent attempts to train the African species to work in harness have 

 met with success, and it is declared that in the Belgian Congo they are 

 more economical in plowing than tractors, while, unlike horses, they 

 are immune from the tsetse fly. 5 White elephants in India are not used 

 as work animals, but are reserved for religious ceremonies. 



Trained elephants perform many rather astonishing feats, consider- 

 ing their size and awkward appearance, in circuses, to the delight of 

 thousands of people annually, and they find a place in every menagerie, 

 as also in many zoological parks. Elephants occur in a wild state in 

 portions of Asia, Africa and some tropical islands. The wild animals, 

 of such great bulk and travelling in herds, are capable of doing much 

 damage when they visit plantations or native villages, and are very 

 dangerous to human beings. Hence they must give way as the regions 

 inhabited by them are settled by large populations of permanent human 

 inhabitants. However, that does not justify the ruthless slaughter that 



4 Drake-Brockman, The mammals of Somaliland, p. 109, 1910. 



1 Austin, Queer methods of travel in curious corners of the world, Natl. Geog. 

 Mag., p. 688, 1907. Jennison, Natural history: animals, p. 204, 1927. 



2 Morden, Tiger hunting in Nepal, Nat. Hist. Mag., xxix, 339-352, 1929, with 

 many photos. 



3 Jennison, Natural history: animals, p. 203, 1927. 



4 Selous, Nature Lovers Library, v, 156-157, 1917, citing Oswell; Standard Library 

 of Nat. Hist., i, 178-179, 1908. 



8 Phillips, Trained African elephants, Journ. Mammalogy, vi, 130-131, 1925. Lyell, 

 Domestication of the African elephant, The Field, London, CXL, 153, 1927; Journ. 

 Mammalogy, vin, 171, 1927. Science News Supplement, Science, April 6, 1928, p. x. 



