The times., 1901-03-31
KILLED BY WILD ANIMALS
Thousands of Men Lose Their Lives
in This Way Annually.
Tigers Responsible for the Denth
of Over Fifteen Hundred People
i'm India i'm single Ienr-Dan
ger From Leopards and snakes.

While man virtually holds the lives Of
the most powerful animals in his hands,
he is by no means secure in his position,
hut falls a victim to other animals in
what would he an alarming ratio were
/ the matter at all considered as separate
and distinct from otner fatalities of the
! human race.
one reason for this loss of human life
is possibly the security which man teels.
/ Theoretically, his position is strong
one. and guided by reason and intelil-
pence he proceeds without fear against
the largest and most ferocious OF AMI
mails. If a careful study of the conditions
of animal life were made with a We" 10
settling the question of which Is the
bravest and most courageous OF all t1e
lower animals. one might well select the
common house fly, which deliberately at
tacks man-an irritated, often ehraBe"'
auimal-thousahds of times its size
In the same sense man exhibits remark
able bravery i'm attacking the whale-ah
animal ninety-tve feet in length ana
! weighing hundreds of tons-the largest
and most powerful of living animals; yet
| man will rush upon an enraged WIla'e'
and while floating over it's mighty form
| in an eggshell of "A boat drive the lnsiS-
| nifcant weapon into it's vitals, taking the
chances of avoiding the powerful tan
| Such an attack is the highest expression
of human bravery; yet undaunted 10y the
fatalities, scores OF men lose their hVes
! annually wiped ont Of existence IN hahu-
| to-hand encounters with the largest OF
all creatures. in single year over l'"Vo
persons have succumbed, directly or IN
| directly, TO this animal, ana every year
there is a list of fatalities
| I ~ DEel
killed by tigers in India alone; and in the
| last 100 years the human population mas
| been depleted to the extent of 200eOO per-
| sons who have met their death by the
| man-eating tigers of this region. AL the
| beginning of the nineteenth century there
| was little or no protection afforded, ana
| tigers existed in large numbers and roam
! ed about almost unmolested. In nearly
| every centre of human occupation there
| was one or more tigers that defed human
| beings. They crept up 10 villages, bound
ed into houses, carrying off men, women
| and children with an utter disregard Tor
hunters that was appalling, ana Whlch
! cou,pleteIy demoraliZed the people. This
| fact led to tiger hunting becoming sport
hunters responded TO the appeals OF the
| natives and A warfare was declared and
| carried on so effectually that the ahlih9is
| have been deCimated. ana where IN l'vV
2 eco or 1900 persons were kllleu amman!
by them. the death list today IL not more
| than one or two day. though IL some
times increases TO 500 or loo a year.
| In India the leopard is dangerous roe
TO man and in the vicinity or singapore
| even at the present day, leopardS XIII on
! an average one man day preylng upon
| them as cat preys upon mouse OF
at least a century Wel-reGuiateu warfare
| has b-en waged against these animals
| with a view TO their destruction, the Gov
! ernment offering a bounty, ana alsIilc ,I.a ,t
governments often duplicating Ihe ri re" a. AZ u
| for the scalp of leopard or tiger But the
| injury these animals accomplish races
| into insignificance before the death Ilsl
| laid at the door of snakes. India appears
| to be the hotbed for these deadly reptlesi
| and the mort persistent warfare appaf-
| entity has had little effect upon tnem, tne
| deadly cobra and others being as numer-
! Gus today, seemingly, III the interior as
| they were a century ago. That the Indian
Government recognizes the danger from
| this source is shown by the fact tnat an
| array of sna ke-killerS IS employed, ana
| there is a bounty paid on every deadly
| snake killed. The statistics OF this war
| fare to the death are amazing ana almost
! beyond belief. During the last century
| 2GaMO human beings were killed by
| snakes in India, and In all the rest OF the
| world the loss may be said to De one
| fourth OF this, though accurate data IS
| lacking For years the mortality from
| this cause in India has been 21,WD per
! year In 1850 cobras alone killed ls.VVO
| natives and 1850 head of cattle. during
/
ed ~ T76 Cobras.
| Yet this had no perceptible effect upon
| the death rate, which in 1882 was almost
| as high one reason for this loss OF llfe
| is that the natives are careless; they do
| not seem TO learn by experience, ana
| walk with bare feet through the forests
| and jungles which are known TO be IN
| tested with the deadly snake, ana Wnen
| bitten they accept il as the inevitable,
| making no effort, in many instances, 10
| effect a cure. In Africa 100 natives are
| fFY,asg gFfaftl nv
| snake which was considered the emblem
Of divinity in carly days,
| In India and Africa where the elephant
is 10 be considered AS an enemy TO man,
| this magnificent animal is rapidly dIsap-
bearing and it is not overstatnS the
| gravity of the case to say that at the ehd
of another century these animals VIII 5, ne d
mere memory and CiaSScd with the mann
moth and hairy rhinoceroS, described oS
| Pailas. Ia India, especially the elephant
is often not merely menace 10 man put
| TO villages and towns. Such animals are
| called ''rogues," and are greatly dreaded.
| In the last fifty years they nave. IN
| mere malicious snort, killed over 5,p9p Ma
| tiVes. hundreds Of domestic ANIMALS. ana
| ruined property valued at thousands ol
dollars Such elephants seem 10 pe seized
| suddenly with an antipathy for man, and
| one animal has been known to deyastate
| and terrorizc a neighbOrhOOd five miles
| square. In 1867 two large tuskers became
famous as ''rosues. They Travelled 10
! gethcr, and when they came upon men al
| work in the field charged them at once
/ with the greatest ferocity; when the men
| escaped they would wreak vengeance on
| the cultivated fields or the houses
| An elephant known as the KakankOte
rogue so completely demoralized that To-
! cality some twenty years ago that the IN
| habitants of the district appealed 10 the
! British Government for protection. II
| first began deliberately to destroy the
farms, trampling down grain and other
| crops; then il charged native village
| rushing headlOng through the streets
tossing hOuseS and people into the air
'IhiS continued until the elephant mac
complete possession of a strip of country
about eight miles long, Including the maii
road between Mysore and Wynaad.
All travel was at a StandStlll, and
| small squad of police was stationed a
each end Of this road TO warn travellers
| of the danger. When traveller arrived
al the outpost of the rogue elephant : do
main he found numbers of natives, dTmet
with tom-toms and other noise-Creatni
| instruments. who offered to accompany
| him and frighten off the elephant FG
| hvc months this rogue, which was O
: | large size. black, and hideous, with Shor
| doUbed-up tuSks, deiied his purSuerS, anI
| only fell after a desperate conflict. Ih
| entire country for miles about celebrated
! this event; the slayer became hero
| While the feet nf the rogue were placed
! the ends Of the road, where natives pro
claimed that the animal had been de
[ | stroycd.
= An elephant in the Doom. uamc.
| GuucSh. escaped from the GoNernfneh
| keepers some years ago. and for iitteei
| years deficd capture, all this time de
! | Vastatng fields and killing men, women
J | and children wherever 1t saw them. Thi
$ | rogue had chain upon one OF It's leg
Which clanked as II walked, and thi
! sound became symbol Of terror through
- | out the country. When IL was heard IL
L | the vicinity of village the people de
b ! serted the huts ana took To the jungle
8 |