46 



SOUTH AFRICAN MAMMALS 



besides its other cries. The farmers execrate this animal 

 in districts where it is prevalent, as a pack has been 

 known to kill from 60 to 100 sheep in a single night. 

 Smuts gives the number of pups at a birth as from ten 

 to twelve, but this seems rather high. Several litters 

 of four, one of six and one of seven, have been sent 

 to the National Zoological Gardens, which seems a more 



Fig. 10. — Gape Hunting Dog. 



likely average. They are brought forth in a hole or 

 burrow. A pair in the Zoo have had two litters, one 

 of four young ones and one of an unknown number. 

 Notwithstanding all precautions having been taken to 

 ensure quiet and isolation, the mother carried the first 

 lot about in her mouth until they were all dead, and the 

 second litter she devoured before they were twenty-four 

 hours old. At one time considerable difficulty was 

 experienced in rearing the pups brought in, imost of 

 them dying of enteritis before they had reached the 



