352 Ungulata 



years the natives killed the foals immediately after birth, 

 sparing only the number necessary for the proper con- 

 servation of the species. The result was an increase in 

 the supply, which caused a decline in the price of the 

 skins of the "Kirgisenpferd," as it is called by the 

 Germans. The color ranges from a clear white to a rich 

 blue-brown; the hair on some of the skins being as flat 

 and silky as the finest broadtail, and on others as shaggy 

 and harsh as the coarest astrachan. 



In the Equidae family are included besides the 

 Horse, the now extinct Quagga, which scientists claim 

 was the connecting link between the horse and the Wild 

 Asses, the Zebra and the Tapirs. Wild Asses are found 

 in Asia, Syria, and Africa ; the African species being the 

 ancestor of the domestic breeds. Sir Samuel Baker said : 

 "Those who have seen donkeys only in their civilized 

 state can have no conception of the beauty and courage 

 of the wild and original animal. It is the perfection of 

 activity, has a high-bred tone of deportment, and a high 

 aetioned step, when it trots freely over the sands with 

 the speed of a race horse galloping over the boundless 

 desert." 



Zebras were once very numerous, but are now reduced 

 in numbers, and found only in Africa south of the Sahara 

 Desert. They stand about four feet high, have short 

 manes and a creapiy white ground color marked with 

 broad brown or black stripes. 



The Tapir, which is often spoken of as the ancestor of 

 the horse, is one of the most ancient of the odd-toed 

 ungulates. All of the living species are included in one 

 genus — (Tapirus), and with the exception of one variety 

 found on the Malayan Peninsula, they are restricted to 

 the forest regions of the Andes Mountains in America, 

 but at one time they were also spread over the 

 Northern Hemisphere. With the exception of the Malayan 

 species, which is white on the middle of the body, all 

 Tapirs are uniformly black when adult, but the 

 young are all spotted and striped with white. They are 

 shy, harmless, nocturnal animals, living near the water 

 in which they delight to swim. 



