THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 67 7. —November, 1897. 



DESCRIPTION OF, AND NATURAL HISTORY 

 NOTES ON, THE BURMESE WILD BULL. 



By Henry S. Wood, 



Surgeon-Captain, 44th Gurkhas. 



Bos sondaicus is found in some parts of Burmah, and also in 

 Sumatra and Java. It occurs in great numbers in the huge 

 forests and grass-lands which lie between the Manipur and 

 Burmese territories, that is, in the Kubbo-Kale valley ; and my 

 observations have all been taken from specimens which I have 

 obtained there. In my various hunting trips I have only managed 

 to bag three of these animals, one being a magnificent Bull, 

 whose description and measurements I give in detail. Although 

 plentiful, these animals are so shy and their senses of sight, 

 smell, and hearing so acute, that they are very difficult to 

 approach. The Burmese name for Bos sondaicus is " Tsoing ' 

 or " Tsine " ; Manipuri, " Lumsun Angangha " ; in Java it is 

 known as the "Banting." It would be interesting to know 

 whether the animals found in Java and Burmah are identical 

 in all details of colouring, &c. This animal is a handsome 

 beast, and is much dreaded by the Burmese, who seldom hunt 

 it. The hill tribes, however, trap the animal in pit-falls, and 

 sometimes shoot it with arrows poisoned with aconite. A 

 wounded Tsine will charge viciously; and the only way to 

 escape from it when unarmed is to lie flat on the ground. It 

 strikes with its feet as well as with its horns, and can inflict 



Zool. 4th ser. vol. I., November, 1897. 2 m 



