THE INDIAN FORESTER EDITED BY E. P. STEBBING, F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.E.S., (January to May). H. JACKSON, F.S.I., (October). P. H. CLUTTERBUCK, F.Z.S., (November and December). Vol. XXXIII 1907. ALLAHABAD The Pioneer Press EUROPEAN AGENTS.-MESSRS. HUGH REES, LTD., 119, Pall Mall, London, S. W'. BOARD OF MANAGEMENT MESSRS. C. E. BRASIER, F. GLEADOW, L. MERCER, AND H. JACKSON, F.S.I., CONSERVATORS OF FORESTS, AND THE HONORARY EDITOR. From September, MR. F. A. LODGE, Conservator of Forests, AND MR. R. S. HOLE, F.C.H., F.L.S., F.E.S., Deputy Conservator of Forests, took the places of MESSRS. BRASIER and MERCER. 30 VIMU AMBORLIAD Indian Forester V. XXXIII Photo.-Mechl Dept., Thomason College, Roorkee. Teak tree with heart wood exposed as a result of injury by fire. Flate 1. VOLUME XXXIII UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA NUMBERI INDIAN FORESTER JANUARY, 1907. THE MORTALITY FROM WILD ANIMALS IN INDIA. The Resolutions issued annually by the Government of India dealing with the destruction of dangerous carnivora and snakes in India bear a strong resemblance to one another and from a scientific and economic point of view must be accepted with the proverbial cum grano salis. Any attempt at such a compilation in so vast a country as India, inhabited by races whose ruling tendency is certainly not a strong penchant for unbiassed veracity, must of necessity prove extremely superficial when it is remembered that the basis for the major portion of the material is collected by the village chowkidar. Nevertheless the Resolutions are not without an interest of their own and serve a purpose owing to the fact that whilst detailing the mortality amongst human beings they recount the various steps taken in different parts of the country to deal with noted man-eaters. To some of these methods we propose to allude later on. In the last Resolution on the subject under consideration, the total number of human beings killed by wild animals in * No. 2239-52, dated Simla, the 19th September 1900. |