HUNTING-LEOPARD OR CHITA 



471 



HUNTING-LEOPARD or CHITA (Cynselurus jubatus). 



Although this animal is commonly called chita (cheetah) by Anglo- 

 Indian sportsmen, that name is at least as often applied in India to 

 the leopard. From all the true cats and lynxes the hunting-leopard 

 differs by the claws being capable of only partial withdrawal into their 

 sheaths, so that their tips are always exposed. The body also is more 

 slender, and the limbs are proportionately longer. The black spots on 

 the skin are small and without light centres, like those on the head of 

 the leopard. Length 7 feet or less, height at shoulder 30 to 39 inches. 

 A specimen speared by Lieut-Col. L. L. Fenton in Kathiawar measured 

 6 feet \ inch in length, the tail being 2 feet 2\ inches. 



The animal is the " Ihlose " of the Zulus and Swazis, and is distri- 

 buted sparsely throughout S.E. Africa. They usually hunt in couples, 

 and fairly stalk their game, securing it with a swift rush at the last. 

 Mr. F. Vaughan Kirby says : " I have seen a party of six hunting 

 together and another of eight. Though I have often tried, I have 

 never yet succeeded in running into one on horseback ; they are in- 

 credibly swift of foot. They invariably kill their prey by strangulation." 

 Distribution. — Africa and South- Western Asia, extending from Persia 

 to Western Turkestan and the countries east of the Caspian, 

 and eastwards into India ; unknown in the latter country on the 

 Malabar coast and to the north of the Ganges, as it also is in 

 Ceylon. The African hunting- leopard is stated to differ by its 

 more woolly coat, and if this be the case, should be known as C. 

 jubatus laneus. 



Shot in the Eastern Transvaal by F. Vaughan Kirby. 



Total length in straight line. Do. over all. Tail. 



6 ft. 8 in. 7 ft. 7 in. 2 ft. 9 in. 



Vertical height. Girth of forearm. Do. shoulders. 

 2fl. iijin. 8iin. 31 in. 



Length. 



ft. in 

 -7 



-6 

 -6 

 -6 

 -6 

 -6 



o 



04 



4l 



4 



li 



o 



Length of Height at 

 tail. shoulder. 



2i 



34 



28i 



Locality. Owner. 



India . . . R. A. Sterndale. 



Near Rajkot, Kathiawar Lieut. -Col. L. L. Fenton. 

 Dr. Percy Rendall. 

 J. Johnston-Stewart. 

 Do. . C. V. A. Peel. 



Do. ■ Do. 



N.E. Transvaal . 



90 lbs. 

 Somaliland 



