A JAGUAR KILLED BY WILD PIGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9082, 16 June 1888, Page 3 (Supplement)

A JAGUAR KILLED BY WILD PIGS.

The wild pigs of South America are known for their ferocity and persistence when once they are enraged. The jaguar is so large and powerful a boast of prey as to be called a tiger by the people of the countries where he is found. A fight between a drove of pigs and one of these, tigers brings out all the wild nature there is in both. Such a conflict is reported in an American publication entitled " Pioneering in South Brazil" : —" One night Lopez and I, who were then alone together, were camped in the forest, when suddenly we heard, at a little distance from us, a tremendous uproar of grunting, squeaking, and clacking of tusks. 'Pigs, , said we both. 'Now for a dinner at last.' Snatching up our guns, we crept cautiously towards the sounds, which continued, though with less uproar than at first, and soon came to the edge of a little clearing. Standing upon the extreme summit of an ant-hillock, about 5 feet from the ground, was a jaguar, surrounded by perhaps fitty or sixty pigs, all in a stato of furious rage, and vainly endeavouring to get at their enemy perched on the ant-hill. We did not fire, hoping to obtain our supper without having to waste a shot, for ammunition was precious. Meantime the jaguar, with his tail stuck well up into the air, and with all four legs close together, balancing himself on the ant-hill, kept facing round uneasily, first in one direction and then another, as tho infuriated pigs threatened this side and that side. It was clear that the game could not long be carried on in this fashion ; either the pigs would give up the siege as hopeless, or the jaguar would get tired of hia uncomfortable position and make a dash to escape. The end, however, came in a manner we did not expect. In a moment of forgctfulness the tiger allowed his tail, which he had hitherto been holding well up out of reach of his besiegers, to drop slightly. In a second the unlucky appendage was seized by the pigs ; its owner was pulled down from his perch into their midst and a terrible battle began. Now and then one could see the big yellow body of the jaguar surge up above tho seething mass of pigs, and his powerful fore-paws striking out deadly blows to right and left, only to sink down again the next instant into the midst of his raging enemies. Presently the uproar began to subside, but the*jaguar had not emerged from the crowd, and we could see him nowhere. After waiting some little time longer the herd of pigs began to disperse, and, the tumult being now over, we walked into tho clearing where the fight had so lately been raging. Still no jaguar was to be seen, but fourteen pigs were lying dead or dying upon the ground. Presently Lopez, stooping down, picked up a fragment of something, and holding it up said, ' Here's the tiger !' It was a bib of tho jaguar's skin. He had been literally torn to pieces by the pigs, and his body and flesh devoured or earned away by them. From his victims, the dead pigs, we secured our supper and many more meals besides without having had to waste a shot."—Pull Mall Gazette.