Wichita eagle., 1888-08-31
WILD BEASTS OF INDIA.
THEIR SLAUGHTER STIMULATED BY
GOVERNMENT BO0NTIES.
Pecuniary Rewards Ior the Destruction Of
Beasts OF Prey and Venomocs Snakes.
Protection Needed for Wild Elephants.
India,s Game BirdS-Statlsslc3.


Protection Needed for Wild Elephants
India,s Game Birds-Statissics.
It is Interesting to otserye that the spread
of western civilization in India Is having
the effect Of making necessary legal measures
for the protection of wild birds and game
and at the same time is bringing about the
gradual determination Of the wild beasts and
poisonous snakes with which tGas country
has always been infested. As the extent OF
the land under cultivation has ilNreased1
beasts of prey have OF course beau De
stroyed or driven off by the clearing Of for
ests and the incoming Of man, and innoc> an'
herds Of deer and antelope have gone VIII b
them. The government hes also stimulated
the slaughter of noxious animals by giving
pecuniary rewards for their destruction, in
consequence of which boUntles 2, III wild
beasts and Al, 500 venomous snakes are Off
cially returned as having been destroyed in
1856. Meantime English spOrtsInen are
keeping up the pursuit of wild animals, in
which they have been assiduously engaged
for a century past
From every direction, therefore, the beasts
Of prey are attacked by man and civilization,
SO that their practical determination has ber
come question Of time only, though plainly
it must be a long time, whereas under the old
Hindoo and Mohanlmedan dynasties they en-
joyed comparative immunity. So far as we
know. no rewards were offered then for their
destruction, and they were hunted merely to
obtain living Wild animals for the nenageries
Of the native potentates, who delighted In the
fights Of wild beasts.
But in this wholesale destruction, wild
birds and game desirable to preserve are in
cluded, so that in 1879 Law for the protec-
ton of wild elephants especially was enacted,
and last year Lord putferin and his leSlsla-
tive council promulgated new game lazy of
more general application. The wanton
slaughter of wild elephants had been carried
to such an extent that it seemed as If the
species might become extinct in India, as the
buffalo is becoming in this country. There
had also been a great increase in the NOR
tally among tame elephants employed for
military purposes, particularly during the
protracted campaigns of the mutiny of 1857,
the elephant, despite his huge strength, be-
ing of delicate constitution, and requiring
more care than he could receive in such cam
paigning. The consequence was that the
price of elephants more than doubled, and as
tame elephants do not breed in captivity the
only source of further supply lay in the cap
ture Of the wild animals.
Therefore In 1879 law was passed tO'Iro-
tect the wild elephants from being hunted
for the sake of their ivory and to require
the professional hunters Of elephants to take
out a license, under which the government
has the first choice of all newly captured an
inlals for its military purposes. The law'of
Lord Dufferin, enacted last year, bears a
general likeness to our own game laws pro-
vides for close or breeding season, and pro
tects many insectivorous birds as valuable
allies Of the farmer, and also the pea fowl,
which is regarded as sacred bird in many
parts of India.
1t seems that almost every game bird that
had its breeding place in India was pursued
during the whole twelve months of the year,
the migratory birds, of course, faring better,
because they escaped for q season from,the
nets and traps and guns of their human
enemies. The commissioner of Sindh re-
ported, for example, that 10000 black par
tridges were destroyed, in the course Of a
few days, to supply the European demand
for their skins, and, as cheap guns have now
got into the hands of the native bird slayers,
the slaughter was enormous and continuous
age. Sportsmen also complained of the
scarcity of game birds, and measures for
their preservation adopted in the west had
to be applied to the east also, so that they
might be left at peace in their breeding sea-
son.
The protection was also extended by Lord
Duferfn's law to all animals of game not
noxious in order that the deer and antelope
H. ,1f b. III
of course this feature has to be carefully
guarded that beasts of prey may not be in
cluded, for even now the loss of human life
because of these fierce animals is very great
annually, as the table Of 1886 shows O. total
of 2,707 persons killed by wild elephants,
tigers, leopards, bears, wolves, hyenas and
other animals. The number of animals
killed in 1856 by natives under the stimulus
Of the bounties offered was q, 4O7. Except
so far as the tigers were concerned, man had
a vast advantage in the slaughter. But the
tigers lost only ,464, while they killed OBS.
In some Of the provinces the tigers were far
ahead In lower Bengal, for example, $50
persons were killed by tigers, but only 245
tigers were killed. Among the ''other ami
mails" mentioned in the tables the jaclal is
the chief, and their victims are doubtless
many moro than are officially returned. The
list of these unspecifed animals includes, be-
sides, wild bears, bisons and crocodiles.
There were also s., 023 cattle killed by wild
beasts in 1856, tigers destroying %, 769 and
leopards % 30 The number Of human be-
ings killed by snakes was returned Is % 81,
and of cattle as 2,514.
The serpent is accordingly the most deadly
enemy of man in India, nearly ten times as
many perishing by his bite as are killed by
wild beasts In the provinceof Bengal alone
more than 1900 persons died of snake bites,
and the snakes on their part suffered loss
of At 500. for which bouuties We're paid But
rewards for killing snakes are not offered in
all the provinces, the experience of the gov
ernor Of Bengal some years ago having
shown that in consequence Of such rewards
almost the whole community went into
snake hunting os regular business, and the
magistrates complained that they could not
carry on their ordinary duty because Of the
stencil OF the putrid bodies brought to them
The figures We have given show that the
work Of exterminating the beasts of prey
and the poisonous snakes of India must yet
be continued for generations They must be
still plenty when thousands are destroyed
annually by the natives under the spur.of |
the bounties-New York Sun
Many q man can show resignation II q |