OF WILD ANIMALS 113 



On account of the fact that an elephant is about eighteen 

 years in coming to anything like maturity, according to the 

 Indian Government standard for working animals, it is far 

 more economical and expeditious to catch full-grown elephants 

 in their native jungles, and train them, than it is to breed and 

 rear them. About ninety per cent of all the elephants now 

 living in captivity were caught in a wild state and tamed, and 

 of the remainder at least eighty per cent were born in captivity 

 of females that were gravid when captured. It wiU be seen, 

 therefore, that the elephant has derived no advantage whatever 

 from ancestral association with man, and has gained nothing 

 from the careful selection and breeding which, all combined, 

 have made the coUie dog, the pointer and the setter the won- 

 derfully intelligent animals they are. For many generations 

 the horse has been bred for strength, for speed, or for beauty of 

 form, but the breeding of the dog has been based chiefly on his 

 intelligence as a means to an end. With all his advantages, 

 it is to be doubted whether the comprehensive faculties of the dog, 

 even in the most exceptional individuals of a whole race, are equal 

 to those of the adult wild elephant fresh from the jungle. 



The extreme difficulty of teaching a dog of mature age even 

 the simplest thing is so well known that it has passed into a 

 proverb: "It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks." In 

 other words, the conditions must be favorable. But what is 

 the case with the elephant? The question shall be answered 

 by G. P. Sanderson. In his "Wild Beasts of India," he says: 

 "Nor are there any elephants which can not be easily subjugated, 

 whatever their size or age. The largest and oldest elephants are 

 frequently the most easily tam^d, as they are less apprehensive 

 than the younger ones." 



Philosophy of the Elephant in Accepting Captivity 

 and Making the Best of It. The most astounding feature 

 in the education of an elephant is the suddenness of his transi- 

 tion from a wild and lawless denizen of the forest to the quiet, 

 plodding, good-tempered, and cheerful beast of draught or 



