THE WILD FAUNA OF THE EMPIRE 47 



Since 1865 there have been African as well as Indian elephants in 

 the Society's menagerie. Both have been treated alike, and both, 

 h may be said, are equally intelligent and tractable. All elephants 

 on attaining adult age are liable to fits of ill-temper and to become 

 dangerous, but this occurs in the Indian as well as in the African 

 species. It would be a disgrace to our age to allow such a fine 

 and noble animal as the African elephant to perish off the face of 

 the earth, and I place it first on the list of the more important 

 African animals that should be protected. 



It is generally allowed that the elephants used by the Car- 

 thaginians and Eomans in the field of battle in former days were 

 of the African species, and there is no reason why they should not 

 be employed again for hard work, at any rate in a peaceful capacity, 

 m the present day. 



2. The African Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros bicomis and B. 

 S'twws).— The rhinoceros, it must be allowed, is an animal that is 

 not ever likely to be put to tasks similar to what the elephant 

 might perform in captivity, and is, moreover, of a fierce and morose 

 disposition. Its huge bulk, however, and grotesque shape render 

 "t one of the most remarkable of living mammals, and in the Game 

 ■Reserves, at any rate, its life should be carefully protected. Some 

 °\ the expense of preserving this rhinoceros from destruction 

 wight easily be recouped by capturing alive and sending to Europe 

 some of the younger animals, which would probably fetch at least 

 a thousand pounds in the market. So far as I know, the cele- 

 brated ' Theodore,' which arrived in the Zoological Society's 

 wardens in 1865 and lived there many years, was the only example 

 oi an African rhinoceros that has ever been brought alive to Europe. 



Theodore ' was a long-nosed or black rhinoceros (B. bicomis), 

 but a white or broad-nosed rhinoceros (B. simus) would be a still 

 greater prize. It was generally supposed until lately that the 

 white rhinoceros only occurred in South Africa, where it is now 

 v ery nearly extinct, but recent information has proved that the 

 White rhinoceros, or a very closely allied form, is also to be met 

 With on the White Nile.* 



3. The Giraffe (Giraffa camdopardalis). — Like the rhino- 

 ceros, the giraffe, I fear, is not likely ever to be useful to man- 

 kind as a domestic animal, so that I cannot point out any strict 

 utilitarian grounds for its preservation. But the giraffe, neverthe- 

 less, deserves to be carefully kept in being as one of the most 

 highly specialised and remarkable forms of mammal life that have 

 ever existed on the earth. What a disgrace it would be to the 

 present age if future generations were able to say that we had 

 deliberately allowed such a remarkable animal to perish without 

 hiking all the safeguards possible for its preservation ! Even if 

 there were not ample space for it in our African Game Preserves, 

 the giraffe, as we know from actual experience, thrives and breeds 

 readily in captivity. For a long series of years, from 1836 to 



* See Sclater, Proa. Zool. Soc, 1903, vol. ii., p. 194. 



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