THE WAYS OF THE LION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3111, 29 October 1913, Page 76

THE WAYS OF THE LION.

In Scribner’s Magazine Mr Roosevelt gives some notes on the life history of the African lion, which make excellent reading They are based mainly on first-hand observation, but also in part on the cumulative observations of many other men. He begins with an account of the very cat-like domestic arrangements of the animals, and tells how litters -are born at any time of the year owing to the equal climatic conditions of the continent, and how assiduously the lioness combines the duties of huntress and guardian of her charge. But it sometimes happens that game becomes scarce, for the neighbourhood of such a royal nursery is no comfortable place for zebra or hartebeest, and a move has to be made. If game is abundant they may keep to the original lair for several months, but if game is scarce, or for other reasons, the lioness may shift her quarters from her young ones are not much bigger than tom-cats, and the family may then be seen travelling long distances, until another suitable place for a lair is reached. When the cubs are three months old or so they habitually travel with the mother; then instead of the lioness eating her fill at a kill, and afterwards returning to the cubs, the latter run up to the kill, and feed at it with their mother. This is true cat-fashion, and. like the gigantic kittens that they are, the young cubs soon enter into the joy of wood craft, and flesh their claws on birds and any small game not beyond their powers they may chance on. But the parent animals take good care they shall keep out of the way when there are hard knocks to be given and taken, and dangerous hoofs or horns stand between a “find” and dinner. In course of time the young lions begin to get strong, and then they are entered to larger game. While still very young they try, in olumsv fashion, to kill birds and small animals. By the time they are four or five months old they sometimes endeavour to assist the mother when she has pulled down some game which is not formidable, but has not killed it outright before they come up; and soon afterward they begin to try regularly to help her in killing, and they speedily begin to help her in hunting and to attempt to hunt for themselves. Evidently in their first attempts they claw and bite their prey everywhere : for I have found carcases of zebra and hartebeest thus killed by family parties which were scarred all over. The Boa ring of Lions.— There is much variety in the way lions conduct their families. It is a common tiling for an old male to be found alone, and it is no less common for two adult males It) be found in company, living and hunting together; the two famous man-eaters of Tsavo, which for a time put a complete stop to the building of the Uganda railroad, were in the latter category. A lion and a lioness are often found together, and in such case a strong attachment may be shown be-

tween them and the union be apparently permanent. ... But it is a frequent thing to find a party A lions consisting of one old male, of two or three or four females, and of the cubs of some ’of the latter; and these parties are well known to the Wakamba and ’Ndorobo hunters, and their association is permanent, so that these cases evidently afford instances of polygamy. Two or three lionesses sometimes live in companionship, with perhaps the cubs of one or more of them, and a single lioness may be found cither by herself or with the cubs of one litter, or of two litters. Mr Roosevelt says that there is no grander sound in Nature than the roaring of a troop of lions. The old male begins, and the others chime in, at first with low moans, that grow louder and louder until the fulllunged roaring can literally be heard for miles; then roars graduallv die away into gasping grunts. The volume of sound -s extraordinary, and cannot possibh' be mistaken for any other noise if reasonably close. Man-killing as a Pursuit.— Man-eating lions are thus referred to: Every year in East Africa natives are carried off from their villages or from hunting camps by man-eating lions. Occasionally one hears of man-eating leopards, which usually confine themselves to women and children, and there are man-eating hyenas; but the true man-eaters of Africa are lions and crocodiles. As has long been known, man-eating lions are frequently very old individuals, males or females, which have lost many teeth, and are growing too feeble to catch game, whereas they find it easv to master man, who is the feeblest of all animals of his size, and the one whose senses are dullest, and who has no natural weapons. But it is a mistake to think that all man-eaters are old and feeble animals. Where lions are much hunted it is doubtless true that they grow so wary of man that only the dire want produced" by utter feebleness can make them think of preying on him ; but where they are less molested their natural ferocity and boldness make it always possible that under favourable conditions a hungry lion, not hitherto a man-eater, will be tempted to kill and devour a man, and will then take to mankilling as a steady pursuit. —Brought to Bay.— Mr Roosevelt describes very graphically the danger of riding lions, as it is termed —that is, running them on horseback until they turn to bay, and then shooting them on foot. If a man on horseback gallops too close behind a fleeing lion it may whip round and charge him without a moment's pause. But when brought to bay, and when the hunter is some distance off, the lion usually spends some little time in threatening and in working itself up to the final pitch of fury. It stands erect, the head held lower than th© shoulders, the tail lashing from side to side, and all the time it growls hoarsely, the lips drawn down over the teeth like those of an angry bear, or, more rarely, drawn back in a prodigious snarl. When just on the point of charging the tail is usually thrown stiffly up two or three times, and if it changes its course during the charge the tail is slewed to one side like a rudder. The animal may break into a gallop at once, or it may begin by trotting with the tail erect. One of the lionesses that charged us came on with occasional great bounds; but all the other lions galloped like huge dogs. The pace is very rapid for 100 or 200 yaids; a horse which is standing but 100 yards distant may be caught before it has time to get into a full gallop. Occasionally, if a man stands stock still, even with an empty gun, a lion, after running straight at him, will at the last moment swerve. This is not ordinarily true, however; but if of two men together one runs when the lion is close it will usually seize the runner. When it comes to close quarters it may rear and strike with its fore paws, but far more often it runs in on all fours, like a dog, knocks the man down as it seizes him, and then lies on him, using the claws to hold him, and doing the killing with its great fangs. If it seizes him by the throat or head ho is killed instantly; but in the hurlyburly of the melee tlie beast seems to lose somewhat of its “instinct for the jugular,” and bites repeatedly at any part that is nearest—arm, leg, side, or chest. In consequence, if help is at hand, the lion can usually be killed or driven off before he lias killed the man, although the latter may die of his wounds later.