136 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



short fur, a yellow-white horseshoe patch on 

 its chest, thick lips, long tongue, and terrible 

 white claws. Like the majority of bears in 

 both hemispheres, it is a peaceful creature 

 when let alone, its favourite food consisting 

 of " white ants," honey, and wild mulberries. 

 The teeth and jaws can do terrific execution, 

 though the formidable claws are also used in 

 battle. As it is a cleaner feeder than the 

 tiger or leopard, neither teeth nor claws inflict 

 the same festering wounds as theirs do. It 

 spends a considerable portion of its life in 

 caves and rocks, and sportsmen sometimes 

 manage to get a shot at one by laying in wait 

 at daybreak near the mouth of one of these 

 dens, and watching for the animal to return 

 from its feeding-grounds. Taken young, the 

 black bear may even be made a pet, and a 

 couple were kept in this way at a country 

 house not far from Abergavenny. The temper 

 of these animals is, however, rather uncertain, 

 and caution is required in handling them. 



The true black bear is found in Kashmir and 

 elsewhere in the Himalaya. Like the last 

 species, it has a white collar, but the rest of 

 the fur is black. This bear has been known to 

 measure over six feet, without the short tail, 

 so that it is larger than the sloth bear. It eats 

 carrion or fruit and kills cattle, and the hill- 

 men fear it more than the red bear. 



