The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-09-22
WILD BEASTS OF INDIA.
THEIR SLAUGHTER STIMULATED Bv
GOVERNMENT BOuNTiES.

| GOVERNMENT BOUNTieS.
Pecuniary Rewards for the Destruction Of
Beasts Of Prey and venomous Snakes.
Protection Needed for Wild Elephants.
India's Game Birds -statistica
1t Is interesting to observe 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 IL bringing about the
gradual determination Of the wild beasts and
poisonous snakes with which that country
has always been infested As the extent Of
the land under cultivation has increased,
beasts Of prey have Of course been de-
stroyed or driven of by tho clearing Of for
ests and tho incoming Of man, and innocent
herds Of deer and antelope have gone with
them. The government has also stimulated
tho slaughter Of noxious animals by giving
pecuniary rewards for their destruction, in
consequence Of which bounties q, AIT wild
beasts and AIT 500 venomous snakes are off,
cially returned Is having been destroyed in
1885. Meantime English sportsmen are
keeping up the pursuit Of wild animals, in
which they have been assiduously engaged
for century past.
From every direction, therefore, the beasts
Of prey are attacked by man and civilization,
50 that their practical determination has be-
come question Of time only, though plainly
it must be long time, whereas under the old
Hindoo and Mohammedan 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 menageries
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 Duiferin and his legisla-
tive council promulg gated new game law Of
more general application. The wanton
slaughter of wild elephants had been carried
to such an extent that it seemed as II the
species might become extinct in India, as the
buffalo is becoming in this country. There
had also been great increase in the NOR
tality among tame elephants employed for
military purposes, particularly during the
lprotracted 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
Ipaigning. 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 pro-
tect the wild elephants from being hunted
for the sake of their ivory and to require
tho professional hunters Of elephants to take
out license, under which the government
has the first choice of all newly captured an
imals 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 rs a sacred bird in many
parts of India.
1t seems that almost every game bird that
had it's 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 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 q
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
Iamong all varieties valuable for their plum
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
Duiferin's law to all animals of game not
lnoXious in order that the deer and antelope
might not be driven out or destroyed. But
of course this feature has to be carefully
guarded that beasts of prey may not be in
cludod, for even now the loss of human life
because of these fierce animals is very great
annually, as the table of 1886 shows total
of 2,707 persons killed by wild elephants
tigers leopards, BEARS wolves, hyenas and
other animals. The number of animals
killed in 1886 by natives under the stimulus
of the bounties offered was 22i07 Except
so far as the tigers were concerned, man had
q vast advantage in the slaughter. But tho
tigers lost only Act while they killed g2S
In some Of the provinces the tigers were far
ahead. In lower Bengal, for example, $50
persons were killed by tigers, but only A5
tigers were killed. Among the 'other ami
mails" mentioned in the tables the jackal is
the chief, and their victims are doubtless
many more than are officially returned The
list of these inspected animals includes, be-
sides, wild bears, bisons and crocodiles
There were also 81, 0?3 cattle killed by wild
beasts in 1856, tigers destroying %, $50 and
leopards %, 275. The number Of human be-
ings killed by snakes was returned as %, 1884,
and Of cattle rs 2,5l4.
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 province of Bengal alone
more than 10000 persons died Of snake bites,
and the snakes on their part suffered n loss
Of Az, J9G, for which bounties were paid. But
rewards for killing snakes are not offered in
all the provinces, the experience of the gov
jernor Of Bengal some years ago having
shown that in consequence of such rewards
almost the whole community went into
snake hunting as a regular business, and the
magistrates complained that they could not
carry on tier ordinary duty because Of the