l62 



THE CAT TRIBE. 



ness of the tail and the possession of tufts of 

 hair on the ears. 



THE CHEETAHS 

 OR HUNTING-LEOPARDS. 



(CYNAILURUS). 



This genus consists of only two species, 

 differing but slightly from one another, one of 

 which, the Fahhad of the Arabs (C. gitttatjis), 

 fig. T2>^ inhabits Africa, while the other, the 

 Cheetah (C jiibatus), is a native of Arabia 

 and Asia Minor. The genus may be shortly 

 characterized as one having a cat's head with 

 a dog's body marked with spots. The two 

 species, which are of about the size of a large 

 greyhound, are only distinguished by the 

 fact that one of them, the cheetah, has a 

 mane on the neck. The yellowish -red or 

 orange-coloured fur, marked with brown and 

 black spots, which run into one another so as 

 to form rings on the rather long tail, appears 

 to be admirably adapted to the general colour 

 of the ground in the deserts and steppes, 

 where these animals prefer to roam. The 

 legs are long and slim, as slim as those of 

 the Canida, the paws small, the claws curved 

 and sharp, but the elastic ligaments which 

 ought to hold them back are so weak that 

 the claws protrude from their sheaths and 

 get worn away in walking. The head is 

 rounded like that of the true felines, the 

 blunt snout rather more protruding. The 

 ears, the eyes with their round pupils, and 

 the dentition present no variation whatever 

 from the forms characteristic of the Felida 

 generally. The voice, too, is the same. The 

 hunting-leopards roar, purr, and hiss like true 

 felines, they likewise growl as they do; but 

 they also utter peculiar sounds which the 

 Arabs have imitated in the names which 

 they apply to these animals. 



The cheetahs hunt singly or in pairs, and 

 their ordinary prey is antelopes, which in- 

 habit the same lands as they do. They 

 endeavour to outwit these cautious animals 



by crawling up towards them on the ground 

 against the wind. But they do not content 

 themselves, like the true felines, with a single 

 bound in endeavouring to overwhelm their 

 victims. They make several leaps, and 

 even dart headlong like greyhounds after the 

 flying animals, though, indeed, only for a 

 rather short time. Have they learned from 

 their victims the method of using their fore- 

 paws? One might almost believe it, for they 

 stamp with their weak paw on their over- 

 thrown prey as roe-deer and antelopes do. 



The character of the cheetahs is of the 

 same mixed nature as their bodily structure. 

 Like the dogs they are easily tamed, become 

 attached and faithful servants of their masters, 

 but this only till the chase begins, when their 

 whole behaviour at once becomes that of 

 genuine felines. The Arabs used formerly 

 to train them to hunt gazelles more frequently 

 than they do now. The cheetah is conveyed 

 in a wagon drawn by oxen to the neighbour- 

 hood of a flock of gazelles, whose mistrust is 

 not aroused thereby since they are accustomed 

 to the sight of such vehicles. But as soon 

 as they have got sufficiently near the game, 

 the hood which had been thrown over the 

 head of the cheetah is taken off, and the 

 animal slips down from the wagon, crawls 

 forwards, often by circuitous routes, in order 

 to get under the wind, and finally, when it 

 has got near enough, making two or three 

 enormous leaps, pounces on the victim which 

 it had singled out, and knocks it down, but 

 sometimes allows itself to be dragged along 

 in wild career while it tries to seize its victim 

 by the throat. The hunters dash down with 

 the greatest haste, again place the hood over 

 the cheetah, which greedily gulps down the 

 blood of its victim, and after they have allowed 

 it its hunting- right, bring it back to the 

 wagon. In the Middle Ages this mode of 

 hunting was held in as high honour among 

 the Mongols as hunting with the falcon. 



Nothing is known of the mode of life of 

 these beautiful animals in a state of freedom. 



