The Leopard 575 



In Somaliland 

 Somali Name, Shabel 



Nearly all the animals killed under this name in Somaliland would be 

 described as leopards in India, not panthers. The dividing line is vaguely 

 denned by naturalists, but the fact remains that there is seldom anything so 

 large as the heavy animals shot in India under the name of panther. The 

 leopard skins of Somaliland are of exquisite softness of coat, the height of 

 the Somali plateaux, often from 5000 to 6000 feet, accounting perhaps for 

 their great beauty. The best leopard skins of all, in which the spots are so 

 large and closely planted as to give the centre of the back almost a black 

 appearance, are obtained from the highlands of Abyssinia, the main system 

 from which spring the plateaux of Somaliland. These very handsome 

 dark leopard skins are used in thousands by the Abyssinian soldiers as 

 ornamental cloaks for the shoulders. 



There is a very large animal inhabiting the hills, about which many 

 superstitions are current ; this would be described in India as a panther, 

 and, allowing for native exaggeration, it is probably the same size. Some 

 very large Somali panther skins may sometimes be seen exposed for sale in 

 Aden. 



But the animal usually met with by the sportsman is the leopard, 

 and this is distributed very widely, occurring everywhere except in the 

 great treeless plains of short grass, where they probably do not exist. They 

 are found in the open jungle fringing these plains, and in the level thorn 

 forests of the Haud. They are most numerous, however, in the Golis and 

 other ranges, or any rough hilly ground, where they are the terror of the 

 shepherds. They spring into kraals at night without the slightest fear, and 

 nine-tenths of the losses among sheep and goats are their doing. 



By day, in the hilly country, the peculiarly deep saw-like call of the 



