THE PASSING OF THE WILD 313 



regarded as the ancestor of our farm cattle, is 

 long since extinct. 



The absolute and irrevocable extinction of 

 an animal is obviously more regrettable, at 

 any rate on sentimental grounds, than its 

 disappearance from areas in which it once 

 abounded. The wild boar and the bear have 

 long since been exterminated from the island 

 of Britain, where no one wants them back ; 

 but they survive in neighbouring continental 

 countries. On the other hand, the true quagga 

 of South Africa, the Antarctic wolf of the Falk- 

 land Islands, and the sea-cow (named after 

 Steller) of the Behring Sea are specifically as 

 dead as the doc}o and the great auk. They 

 can never be restored, and all that remains 

 of them is in the museums. The manner of 

 their disappearance may be told in a few words. 



The true quagga, an animal closely resem- 

 bling existing zebras, was exterminated by the 

 Boers, who slew it for the sake of its flesh, 

 and the last living individual died in captivity 

 in the year 1883. As it seems, from contem- 

 porary evidence, to have been more amenable 

 in harness than other zebras, it is a pity that 

 the Boers should have been allowed to drive it 

 off the face of the earth. 



The existence of the Falkland Islands wolf 

 came to an abrupt end in 1876. Great numbers 

 of these animals were killed by the Gauchos, 



