Aug. 26, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
323 
THE INDIAN PANTHER. 
That there are two distinct species of panther 
in India is a fact accepted by most sportsmen, 
though naturalists do not agree in separating 
the varieties. To the unscientific mind there is 
but little in common between the long, lithe, 
smooth-skinned panther, which grows to as 
great a length as a small tigress and will kill a 
bullock, and a smaller, more heavily-built ani¬ 
mal, which preys chiefly on goats and dogs and 
the small animals which inhabit the jungle where 
he lives. Compare the bright yellow glossy skin 
with the short hair and well-defined markings 
of the former with the light, fulvous and 
rougher coat and indistinct spots of the latter. 
The difference is at once evident. Compare, 
also, the skulis of the two species—that of the 
larger panther elongated, with a ridge running 
along the top, and the smaller one rounded in 
shape, with no occipital ridge. 
The larger one attains a length of nearly nine 
feet, though it is much lighter in proportion 
than the thick-set small kind, which seldom ex 
ceeds six and a half feet, and is generally less. 
Again, their habits differ. The larger, and 
rarer, of the two keeps more to thick jungle, 
living principally on game and sometimes slay¬ 
ing cattle. The other is a dweller near the 
habitations of man, prowling round villages at 
night in search of dogs and stray goats, and 
even following in the wake of a herd toward 
sunset and picking off stragglers. He is a much 
bolder animal than his larger congener, and is 
frequently quite careless of the presence of man, 
carrying off animals before the herdsman’s very 
eyes. 1 have known these to be shot on a dark 
night by the light of a lamp placed near a goat 
or carcass of an animal. 
Of the black panther I have no knowledge, 
so cannot speak as to its being a separate 
species, or only a variety, but that it is only a 
variety seems to be the opinion of most who 
have observed it. 
One panther I shot some time ago was utterly 
fearless of man. I was marching along a road 
in broad daylight. A hundred yards in front of 
me were two heavy carts rumbling along, and 
near me about a dozen men. Three goats were 
being led along, bleating, behind the party. 
Suddenly we saw a small panther sitting under 
a tree not far from the forest road. He did not 
crouch, but sat quite upright, not seeming the 
least bit afraid, and I killed him with a shot 
through the head. I thought he was missed at 
first, for he turned right round, but only walked 
two steps and then collapsed. 
No doubt he had roused himself on hearing 
the goats bleating, and if they had been allowed 
to stray a few yards off he would probably have 
killed one had he not himself been killed. He 
was a fully-grown panther, as 1 could tell from 
his teeth, but was small and iight, only six feet 
in length; two men easily lifted him on to a 
cart. He was very thin; the stomach contained 
the remains of a monkey. A few days later a 
panther killed a calf close to a herdsman near 
a thickly-grown nullah in the midst of the cot¬ 
ton fields. Next afternoon I rode out to the 
place, and as there was no time to collect 
beaters, tied a goat up under a large tree on the 
margin of the nullah, and climbed up into the 
tree. 
I had not been there more than half an hour, 
land it was still broad daylight, when the panther 
rushed out on to the goat, and I shot him. 
I here were men working in the fields all round 
at the time, and the main road was only a few 
hundred yards off. This panther measured six 
and a half feet, and was very heavy and thickly 
built, having a greath girth of chest and large 
paws. 
As I was not more than four yards off, his 
mode of killing his prey could be easily ob¬ 
served. He sprang out of the bushes, and 
launched himself on to the goat with a half 
spring, half rush. With his hind feet remaining 
on the ground, he seized the goat round the 
shoulders and chest with his paws, and caught 
The Game Book 
STANDARD BIG GAME MEASUREMENTS 
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FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, 127 Franklin Street, NEW YORK 
BIG GAME HUNTING 
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