Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-27
How the Beasts of the Forest
Are SHARED and Captured.
RARE SNOW LEOPARDs
SPORT ON THE ICY SLOPES OF
THE HIMALAYAS.
Tigers and Lions Are Caught In q Big
Net and Quieted by Chloro-
form or Ether.

Written for The Evening Star BY Henry J. Walters.
The other day Prince" the big snow
leopard which was the pride Of the New
York Geological Garden. escaped from his
cage and was shot by a policeman Just as
the animal was springing upon him after
an all-night hunt.
The death of this beast was a severe ana
Irritating loss to the authorities Of the zoo.
for the snow leopard Is one of the rarest
animals to be found in captivity. This par
-ticular specimen cost $500. but was worth
far more than that There is said to be
only one other snow leopard now held pris-
oner by man, and that one is in far-oh
Picking, in the palace gardens Of the En-
peror of China.
Snow leopards inhabit the Himalayas and
their subsidiary ranges, away up In the
region of eternal snow. They are rare.
even there. and their capture is attended by
great difficulty and hardship. They are
taken In a net, after the manner usually
adopted by wild beast hunters. The net,
about 200 feet square, Is stretched over the
snow and so arranged with draw-strings
that it can be pulled up into the form OF a
big bag in moment when the animal Is
driven over 1t. 1t may take months to lind
a snow leopard. and then days. or even
ers and force him to run over the net
But the real trouble in the case of such
an animal begins after his capture. The
transportation of big wild beast from the
Icy slopes of a Tibetan mountain to an
American zoo Is no simple matter. TWO
other snow leopards were captured with
Prince" but they both died. They could
not stand the heat Of the tropics.
prince" was brought to America by
large German wild beast dealer. He took
year and a half coming to New York In
sailing ship which went from Hamburg
through the Mediterranean and the Suez
canal, across the Pacific, and all along the
coast of South America. stopping at the
ports to take on wild animals This long
sea voyage saved the snow leopard's life.
Caught In Net.
Lions. tigers, panthers. leopards, wolves.
and most animals Of the jungle are caught
in a net which Is stretched in some open
space. with the drawstrings Topped over the
branches Of trees. so that they can be
pulled up at moments notice.
the fashion of a parachute. 1t Is usually
made of strong green silk, and sometimes
the captured beast gets so hopelessly tan
gled UP with 1t In his struggles that 1t has
to be cut away from him in fragments.
If the hunters come across a lioness or
tigress with her cubs, the man in charge
Of the party has to decide whether he
wants the mother or the babies. He knows
cannot get both. When the net is drawn.
the mother Is practically certain to Kill
the cubs in her mad struggles. If the cubs
are wanted the mother must be shot be-
fore they are melted. This rule applies to
all feline animals.
Anaesthetics are almost always used In
the case of fully grown animals after they
have been taken in the net. in order that
they may be released from 1t and trans
ferred to the shipping cage in which they
are to be taken to their destination. Some
times chloroform is administered, some
times ether. Needless to say, the saturated
sponge Is put on the end of a stick before
1t is held to the enraged animals face.
Taken in Sleep.
Not infrequently the denizens of the jun
gle caught asleep by expert native
crackers employed by the hunters. Then
they are chloroformed, and they wake up
to find themselves in a cage. A lioness and
her cubs which now form one Of the star
attractions of q big American zoo were
taken in this manner
Elephants are captured by stampeding a
wild herd and driving 1t through the jun
gle into a strong stockade built by the ma
tives After they have been left there for
some time. until their rage cools down.
they are brought out. one by one. between
two tame elephants; and as rule, speed
fly become dOcile.
Snakes are noosed by strong silk lariat,
usually after being smoked out of their
holes. In their rage they wrap their coils
around and around the lariat until they
easily imprisoned In bag or cage, and
ether or gas is administered to them so
that the lariat may be removed without
danger
the agents sent out to the jungle by the
wild beast dealer. They are purchased
from the natives, as are also many small
animals and birds.
Attracted by Sweets.
The native children place scores Of gourds
about the forest half filled with a mixture
of treacle and gum, or sticky substances
much like those. The greedy monkeys come
to feast and get stuck to the heavy gourds.
that the watching natives can easily
capture them They are commonly taken
in this way on the west coast of Africa
and in South America. In the latter coun-
try they are sometimes caught by the
lasso.
The big orang-outangs and chimpanzees
are seldom taken fully grown; when they
are it is by means of lariat The mother
is usually shot, and her young cubs cap
tured by climbing up tree after them.
They are dazed by the mothers death. and
readily respond to the friendly advances Of
the treacherous hunter, who approaches
them. banana in hand.
Monkeys are among the easiest of wild
TO transport alive to a zoo. man expe-
rienced in the business estimates that
pretty nearly % per cent of them die on the
journey. as against 80 per cent of wild ami
mails generally. They are absolutely I'M
fitted for captivity Even after they have
been safely brought to zoo they generally
die in two or three years OF tuberculosis,
pneumonia or some bronchial trouble.
Gorillas Wanted.
The wild beast hunter in tropical Africa
both white and native is always on the
lookout for a gorilla-at present the great
est prize that could be captured There Is
none in captivity There was one In the
London zoo. but 1t died in 1884, and its
stuffed body is now in the British Natural
History Museum. 1t only lived few weeks
In captivity.
Gorilias are rarely seen, even by the ma
tives. and man might roam through their
habitatton for six. months without setting
eyes on one. They inhabit the deepest re-
cesses of the African jungles. and when
they are discovered 1t is almost impossible
10 capture them. They cannot be netted
like lions or tigers for they spring from
tree to tree. and are seldom seen on the
ground. even for moment: while their
terrible ferocity. immense strength and
wonderful agility give them a hundred to
one chance against the hunter So many
lives have been lost at various times in
n hnv boz t.