THE AUROCHS 
T HE Aurochs, or European bison ( Bos bonasus ), is now found 
only near the headwaters of a few tributaries of the Kuban 
River, and as its habitat is entirely within the preserve of the 
Grand Duke Michael of Russia, it is not likely that the casual 
sportsman will have an opportunity of shooting one; more- 
over, this beast is now considered “ royal game,” and the 
Grand Duke himself has to obtain a special permit from the Tsar each 
season before killing one on his own ground. 
His Imperial Majesty the Tsar has a preserve at Bielowieza, in 
Lithuania, containing a considerable number of these animals. In 
1880 this herd was said to contain 600 head, but here they live under 
more artificial conditions, and it is doubtful if they are quite the same 
species. 
The aurochs is a true bison, and is to be distinguished from the other 
bovines by the number of its ribs and the mass of hair on the head and 
forequarters (it also has a tuft of hair at the end of the tail). It is not so 
drooping in the hindquarters as the American species. 
I have seen their tracks and fresh droppings near the source of the 
Kisha River, which runs into the Kuban, but although I have hunted several 
of the valleys on the south side of the range, running down towards the 
Black Sea, I have never seen any sign of them there, nor have I been 
able to get any reliable information of their existence from the natives in 
that region. The country they inhabit is very difficult to get about in, 
comprising, as it does, thick timber, steep ascents and an almost total 
absence of trails. 
It is surprising that an animal of such bulk can get about over the ground 
it does. When travelling in this region I had to abandon my pack horses 
at an early stage, reduce my outfit to a minimum, and do the best I could 
with the few men I could persuade to act as porters. 
It was in this same country, before it was forested by the Grand Duke 
Michael, that that intrepid sportsman, St George Littledale, secured 
his specimens, male and female, for presentation to the Natural History 
Museum at South Kensington; and his forbearance from killing a third 
one for himself, although he had the chance, should be remembered as a 
noble example of self-denial by all big game hunters. 
Although the aurochs can get over quite steep ground, he prefers a 
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