56 THE SOCIETY FOE THE rBESERVAT.ION OP 



one another. But, so far from anything of the kind having 

 occurred, our first records of uninhabited districts show them more 

 often than not to have been teeming with animal life of all kinds, 

 and yet, previous to the appearance of man, especially of man 

 equipped with fire-arms, such creatures as the lion, the leopard, 

 and the hunting dog must have led an existence very nearly ideal. 



When the game has, through the efforts of man or by the 

 .agency of some epidemic, become unduly reduced, then the 

 carnivora, driven by hunger, do no doubt become a very real 

 ■danger, both to the resident and to the traveller; but, given 

 ordinary conditions, they will never in such a place as a game 

 reserve assume the overwhelming numerical proportions some- 

 times credited to them. 



Moreover, if the officers responsible for the well-being of the 

 reserve are zealous in doing their work, the reduction of car- 

 nivorous animals to, and their retention within, proper and 

 moderate limits ought to present no insuperable difficulty if 

 carried out in a methodical manner ; so that, far from increasing, 

 they should decrease considerably in numbers, while, on the other 

 hand, the game multiplies unhindered. Thus, unless actually 

 driven out by persecution, it seems most unlikely that the 

 decrease of competition would act otherwise than as an incentive 

 to them to remain within their accustomed haunts. 



Personally, I am convinced that predatory animals in a wild 

 ■state tend to increase relatively slowly. It i's sometimes argued 

 that because the Ganidce and the Felicia give birth to several 

 young ones at a time they must therefore increase, if not severely 

 keptdown by artificial means, at a greater rate than any of the 

 species of herbivorous animals, which, as a rule, produce only one 

 offspring per annum. Especially is the fecundity of the African 

 hunting dog often exaggerated, owing to the fact 'that as many as 

 a dozen young ones are sometimes found collected in one burrow. 

 Bemales killed, at least in this country, have, however, never been 

 found to contain more than three or four, and the association of a 

 large number in one spot would seem to more probably indicate 

 the offspring of several mothers. It is also exceptional to see 

 more than two or three young animals in a pack of, say, a dozen 

 wild dogs, which would not be the case were the litters larger. 



Lionesses, again, have generally three cubs at a birth, but the 

 best authorities agree that seldom more than one or two of these 

 see maturity. Owing to the comparatively short period of gesta- 

 tion of these animals and the early age 'at which the cubs are 

 weaned, it might be inferred that in a wild state, as in captivity, 

 they would breed annually. But here the difference imposed by 

 environment displays itself ; before the mother can turn her atten- 

 tion to new family cares the youngsters must be taught to he 

 independent, to hunt and to kilt animals larger than themselves 

 unaided, and the process of instruction no doubt takes up some 

 ■considerable time. A lion cub of a year old is still relatively help- 

 less ; his large canines are only just beginning to obtrude their 



