TRAINING WILD ANIMALS 125 
treated sympathetically or otherwise, and quickly attach 
themselves to those who use them with kindness and con- 
sideration. Their memories, too, are usually very retentive, 
a fact highly important to the trainer’s art. I have already 
explained to the reader in my chapter on carnivores in 
captivity that these animals are not so dangerous as people 
who know nothing about them suppose ; indeed the majority 
of them, as I have already said, are by nature of a peaceful 
and even affectionate disposition. Strange as this may 
seem, it is nevertheless true. 
It is now universally recognised that each animal has its 
own peculiar characteristics, its own idiosyncrasies over and 
above the general psychological character which it shares 
with all other members of its species. This is a discovery I 
had to make for myself, and a most important one it is for 
the trainer, for, I say without fear of contradiction, that no 
trainer is fit for his vocation who is unable to read the char- 
acter of the individual animals which he has to train. And 
so it came about that when | introduced the humane system 
of training, as I may call it, I not only substituted for the 
whip and the red-hot iron a kindly method of educating the 
creatures (based upon an intelligent system of rewards and 
punishments) but I also instituted the practice of studying the 
character of each individual animal before including it in a 
troupe. At the present day all trainers worthy of the name 
follow this course. From the first moment that the animals 
come into possession of their teachers, they are carefully ob- 
served and have all their peculiarities noted with the view of 
applying to each the treatment best adapted to its tempera- 
ment. Some animals require more encouragement than 
others ; many, on the contrary, have to be treated sternly owing 
to their obstinate dispositions. Such differences as these 
must be known and acted upon by the trainer. It must be 
remembered that the trainer’s task is beset with difficulties, 
for he is demanding from his pupils something which is alto- 
gether foreign to their nature. It is not natural for a lion 
