OTHER USEFUL ANIMALS 



687 



jection was made to the use of camels, 

 on account of the fact that they fright- 

 ened horses. 



Why experiment failed — During the 

 civil war, the camels became still more 

 scattered, and at the close of the war 

 only 44 remained. They were then sold 

 for $31 a head for use in menageries. 

 A few escaped and became wild, being 

 seen from time to time until within the 

 past 15 years. 



According to Carroll, "the most potent 

 cause of the failure of the camel exper- 



Fig. 439 — BULL YAK 



iment was its interruption by the civil 

 war. Had Major Wayne been left in 

 control of the camels, which were im- 

 ported under his supervision, and sup- 

 plied with sufficient money to breed and 

 increase them, as he so well knew was 

 necessary, and had he been free to fa- 

 miliarize the teamsters and drivers with 

 their management, there appears to be 

 no particular reason why they should 

 not have been of as much use in parts 

 of this country as they were and are in 

 the countries of the east. They were 

 easily and quickly acclimated and they 

 performed with success their tasks in 

 the initial experiments." In many re- 

 spects, therefore, it is to be regretted 

 that an apparently successful experi- 

 ment was allowed to lapse. 



CARABAO 



The carabao or water buffalo is really 

 identical with the Indian buffalo (Bos 

 oubalis), which is distributed from 

 Europe to the Philippines. It is by 

 far the most important domestic and 

 farm animal in the Philippine islands. 

 The carabao is not only the mainstay of 

 agriculture, but is also extensively used 

 as a draft and pack animal. It gives a 

 fairly good quantity of milk with a high 

 fat content. There is no animal more 



useful or more able to withstand the cli- 

 mate of the Philippines than the car- 

 abao. The color is black or brown, the 

 hair very sparse, the horns very large, 

 arched, rough and heavy. The head is 

 small as compared with the horns. 



Its strength is immense and it can 

 haul very heavy loads, although with a 

 slow and awkward gait. It swims the 

 wildest rivers with ease. The carabao 

 needs water at frequent intervals and is 

 fond of lying down in the mud. In 

 fact, this tendency sometimes leads to 

 trouble, for when the carabao becomes 

 dry or hot, he makes for the nearest mud 

 or water hole for the purpose of cooling 

 himself off. In so doing, he may upset 

 the cart and injure the load. The meat 

 is of fairly good flavor and the hide and 

 horns are of great commercial value. 

 The carabao matures at the age of five or 

 six years, and may then be put to work. 

 It usually lives to the age of 30 years. 



During the outbreak of rinderpest in 

 1902, in the Philippines, about 492,000 

 carabao died. The total number then in 

 the islands was 1,773,000, so that the 

 death rate was 42 per cent. This de- 

 struction of the carabao affected the is- 

 lands more disastrously than any other 

 catastrophe which has befallen them. 

 The practice of farming was brought al- 

 most to a standstill, because many lines 

 of farming are wholly dependent upon 

 the carabao. In the rinderpest outbreak 

 of 1902, the highest death rate was noted 

 among the carabao bulls and the lowest 

 unohg the carabao steers. The Igorrotes 



Fig. 440 — zebu cow 



(From Photo by F. G. Favorite) 



were the least affected by the epidemic of 

 rinderpest since this race of natives do 

 not depend upon the carabao except for 

 food. The government veterinarians 

 have worked out a system of vaccination 

 and other methods of control by which 

 it is hoped that future outbreaks of rin- 

 derpest may be checked. 



