MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 515 



No. VI.— TAPIR {TAPIRUS INDICUS) NEAR HOUSES. 



The Tapir which occurs in the South of Tenasserim Division is usually 

 a very timid animal, but a friend told me the other day that a Burman at 

 Kado had seen one in his garden in the evening. Kado is a large village 

 a few miles from Moulmein. The Burman did not recognise it as a tapir, 

 but described it as a very large '.pig' half black and half white. 



J. B. MERCER ADAM, F.C.H., 



Assistant Conservator of Forests. 

 Rangoon, 27 th July 1910. 



No. VII.— NOTES ON TIGERS. 



Perhaps the following notes may be of interest to some members. In 

 J 909, a Karen took 5 tiger cubs, apparently from one mother. They were 

 certainly all found in the same lair, so it seems certain they were all the 

 offspring of one mother. I. did not see the cubs myself, but I have had the 

 story corroborated by respectable and educated Karens. I do not know 

 if this is an absolute record, but I should fancy so, as my experience in 

 Burma has been that the tiger generally has one or two cubs only, rarely 

 three. 



I came across a curious case of wanton destruction by a tiger the other 

 day. The beast entered the town of Papan, and killed a bullock and a 

 pony, wounding another bullock, so that it died next day. The tiger had 

 no cub with it, so it was not a case of the mother teaching her young to 

 kill, and the kills were separated, so that the tiger seems to have wandered 

 round slaying. It is no uncommon thing for tigers to enter Papan and 

 even to kill cattle in side sheds, which is strange, as the station is surround- 

 ed with dense jungle which contains plenty of pig and barking deer. 



I heard a story the other day from some Karens that a tiger had a pair 

 of cubs which she kept in the fork of a tree, apparently six or eight feet 

 from the ground. I was unable to corroborate this, and had not even time 

 to go to the spot, so I give the story for what it is worth : and hope that, if 

 any members have heard of similar cases, they will let us have the benefit 

 of their experience. 



J. B. MERCER ADAM, F.C.H., 



Assistant Conservator of Forests. 

 Rangoon, 27th July 1910. 



[The usual number of young produced by a tiger is two, but there are records of larger 

 numbers up to five and even six is not unknown. 



A tiger having young in a forked tree seems rather improbable and sounds more like a 

 panther, though we have never heard of such an instance, — Eds.] 

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