290 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



the largest and finest of the felines, the lions and tigers, mid- 

 night murders very rarely occur. We never have known one. 

 Individual dislike is shown boldly and openly, and we are 

 given a fair chance to prevent fatalities. Among the lions, 

 tigers, leopards, jaguars and pumas of the New York Zoological 

 Park, there has been but one murder. That was the crime of 

 Lopez, the big jaguar, who richly deserved instant death as 

 a punishment. It was one of the most cunning crimes I have 

 ever seen among wild animals, and is now historic. 



For a year Lopez pretended, ostentatiously, to be a good- 

 natured animal! Twenty times at least he acted the part of 

 a pla3rful pet, inviting me to reach in and stroke him. At 

 last we decided to give him a cage-mate, and a fine adult 

 female jaguar was purchased. The animals actually tried to 

 caress each other through the bars, and the big male completely 

 deceived us, one and all. 



At the end of two days it was considered safe to permit 

 the female jaguar to enter the cage of Lopez. She was just 

 as much deceived as we were. An animal that is afraid always 

 leaves its traveling-cage slowly and unwillingly, or refuses to 

 leave it at all. When the two sets of doors were opened, the 

 female joyously walked into the cage of her treacherous admirer. 

 In an instant, Lopez rushed upon her, seized her whole neck 

 in his powerfxil jaws, and crushed her cervical vertebrae by 

 his awful bite. We beat him over the head; we spiked him; 

 we even tried to brain him; but he held her, as a buU-dog would 

 hold a cat, until she was dead. He had determined to murder 

 her, but had cunningly concealed his purpose until his victim 

 was fully in his power. 



Bears usually fight "on the square," openly and above- 

 board, rarely committing foul murder. If one bear hates 

 another, he attacks at the very first opportunity, He does 

 not cunningly wait to catch the offender at a disadvantage 

 and beyond the possibility of rescue. Sometimes a captive 

 bear kiUs a cage-mate or mauls a keeper, but not by the sneak- 



