The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations

TEMPERAMENTS OF THE LARGE CARNIVORES The lion is sanguine, courageous, confident, reposeful and very reliable. The tiger is nervous, suspicious, treacherous and uncertain. The black and common leopards are nervous and combative, irreconcilable and dangerous. The snow leopard is sanguine, optimistic and peace-loving. The puma is sanguine, good natured, quiet and peaceful. The wolves are sanguine, crafty, dangerous and cruel. The foxes are hysterical, timid and full of senseless fear. The lynxes are sanguine, philosophic, and peaceful. The mustelines are either nervous or hysterical, courageous, savage, and even murderous. The bears are so very interesting that it is well worth while to consider the leading species separately. Possibly our conclusions will reveal some unsuspected conditions. BEAR TEMPERAMENTS, BY SPECIES. The polar bears are sanguine, but in captivity they are courageous, treacherous and dangerous. The Alaskan brown bears in captivity are sanguine, courageous, peaceful and reliable, but in the wilds they are aggressive and dangerous. The grizzlies are nervous, keen, cautious, and seldom wantonly aggressive. The European brown bears are sanguine, optimistic and good- natured. The American black bears are sanguine and quiet, but very treacherous. The sloth bears of India are nervous or hysterical, and uncertain. The Malay sun bears are hysterical, aggressive and evil-tempered. The Japanese black bears are nervous, cowardly and aggressive. To those who form and maintain large collections of bears, involving much companionship in dens, it is necessary to keep a watchful eye on the temperament chart. THE DEER. In our Zoological Park establishment there is no collection in which both the collective and the individual equation is more troublesome than the deer family. In their management, as with apes, monkeys and bears, it is necessary to take into account the temperament not only of the species, but also of each animal; and there are times when this necessity bears hard upon human nerves. The proneness of captive deer to maim and to kill themselves and each other calls for the utmost vigilance, and for heroic endurance on the part of the deer keeper.