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Book Review
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I just Purchased "Big Game Hunting Around the World" by Bert Klineburger and Vernon W. Hurst, I also Purchased Almeidas book as well but Bert's book definitely caught my eye first.
I'll update once I get through it, any one here read it yet? Edit: I'll just update as I make my way through it, that way the info is fresh. Jaguars- -The Jaguars he took in this book were from a very remote swampland near Caceres near the Bolivian Border of the Mato Grosso area of Brazil. -He says this area "is as wild an area as can be seen anywhere" and makes it sound like very few every want to try the Jungles of South America again after they have their first taste. -It was very hard for Dogs to track the Large males here, the dense swamp forces them to lose the scent and it also allows the Jags to chose their "Battle Ground" -One of the hunts there was recorded, he spoke of the Jaguar forcing the dogs to come after him, never seemingly running just moving along and picking off dogs as they came. After he had found a suitable "Battle Ground" he would retreat no further and wanted to fight any and all comers. -His Jaguars he took average 250lbs for Males and 160lbs for Females -One large Jaguar they tracked, shot with a 30-30 Carbine, escaped and was never found even with the dogs. This Large Jag was stated to have "tracks so large that they reminded Bert of an African Lioness. -The one I spoke about earlier that forced the fight to the battle ground was estimated to weigh "at upwards of 300lbs" and he was taken at the Rio De Apure which is in Venezuela I believe.
Cont'd
The Tiger -Nothing really new to add, the usual info on different hunts, Tiger size and measurements. -Says the former Governor of New Mexico, "Tom Bolack "Bagged a large male in Bastar in 1965 which measured 10'7'' and is probably a new record" -Seldom stands higher than 4' at the shoulder and it's weight runs from 400-600lbs WaterBuffalo -"it approaches the mighty gaur in size, standing as high as six feet at the shoulder, and sometimes weighing more than a ton. " -"Unlike the bison, however, it never ascends the mountains, but keeps to the swamplands of the low elevations, and the open grassloands " -"The record horn, measured around the outside curve is 70 2/5'' from the base to the tip. This adds up to 14' if the horns are measured from tip to tip across the forehead of the skull." -"They are extremely dangerous, shor-tempered, unpredictable, and fully capable of mounting a determined charge without provocation" "The Water Buffalo is vicious, with a cunning that borders on the diabolical." Gaur -"The Gaur is the tallest animal of the Bovine family, standing over 6' at the shoulder and weighing, frequently, more than a ton." -It doesn't exist cold countries -Prefer hilly places -It cannot be domesticated like the Water buffalo -Gaurs are shy, prefer to escape rather than charge Sloth Bear -"about the size of our Himalayan black bear, standing as high as 3' at the shoulder in extremely large specimens, and weighing upwards of 500lbs" -"Short tempered and unreliable, and may attack without discernible provocation." -"Forest people are more afraid of the Sloth Bear than they are Tigers and Leopards, which, with the exception of the occasional man-eater, follow a strict policy of live and let live insofar as humans are concerned." -When they attack people, they are likely to go for the face and head. A few scans of hunts so far in the book  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Africa
Cape Buffalo "I think the most experienced African hunters will agree that the Cape Buffalo is more difficult to kill than any African Game." "Sometimes it'll take 500 grain solids in the shoulders with very little sign that it is aware of what is happening other than to look in the direction from which the report issues." "Not only is it a virtual certainty that a wounded animal will head into such cover, but it has the unpleasant habit of doubling back to watch over its back trail where a charge of a few feet will bring it out on top of its tormentor. It is a very difficult animal to stop in a charge. It's ability to absorb the shock of heavy bullets has to be seen to be believed. When the Cape buffalo charges, it is virtually impossible to reach the brain from the frontal position. Once it commits itself to a charge, there is no mistaking its intention-it dies or the hunter does. Most dangerous game will give up after a hunter has been tossed and rednered motionless, Old Mbogo cannot be counted on to do this. Hi is likely to "pound" his victim, and that means to trample him into a bloody, shapeless mas of sheredded flesh and splintered bone." -"May weigh a little over a ton" Lion "The Lion is still found over a vast area of Africa and is, of course, more abundant in some areas than in others. There doesn't seem to be any particular area where lions run to larger body sizes than elsewhere. Large specimens have been taken all the way from Angola to Mozambique, throughout East Africa and on to the north, including the Central African Republic. A Big Lion is one that measures nine feet or more from the end of the nose to the end of of the last joint of the tail. Exceptionally large specimens measuring eleven feet have been entered in the record books." "The lion is not the biggest cat in the world-it is the second largest being somewhat smaller than its Asiatic cousin, the tiger. Neither is it as adaptable nor as smart as its striped cousin. Whereas the tiger prefers, perhaps has learned to prefer, the dense cover of the jungle, the lion is more at home in the more open, sparsely-covered areas. The fear of man is a lesson slowly learned, it seems, by the lion. This fact has contributed greatly to its becoming a candidate for extinction in many areas." Leopard "Although there is a possibility that a large leopard may be taken just about anywhere over their wide range, they seem to run to larger sizes in East Africa, and those from the mountains are generally larger than those found in the lowlands." "A leopard measuring 7' or more from tip of nose to tip of tail (between the pegs) is considered large. Compared to other big cats, it is not very large, being near the size or perhaps a bit smaller than the American puma, and smaller than the tiger, the lion, and the jaguar of Central and South America." Few more scans  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Book worth a listen here. Starts off very general and is quite philosophical about the conservation movement, and constantly critical of Anthropocene apologists. In the end, the conclusion is to save global biodiversity, we need to set aside half of the planet to nature.
PDFs of (many) of the books mentioned by Panthera and others plus a few comments.
'Wild Cats of the World' LINK 'Prides: The Lions of Moremi' LINK 'Riding the Tiger: Tiger Conservation in Human-Dominated Landscapes' LINK 'The Big Cats and their Fossil Relatives' LINK 'Tigers of the World: The Science, Politics and Conservation of Panthera tigris' Ronald Tilson, Philip J. Nyhus (2009) LINK 'Tiger: The Ultimate Guide' LINK 'The Grizzly King' LINK 'Tigers in the Mangroves Research and Conservation of the Tiger in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh' LINK 'Lions in the Balance Man-Eaters, Manes, and Men with Guns' LINK All these books are great works of science however I do have a bit of criticism. Like why the hell are all the books are about tigers and lions [IK but 'Grizzly King' is an old and unacademic book]. So to counter this, here are some academic books on animals other than lions and tigers. 'The African Wild Dog: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation' LINK 'The African Leopard Ecology and Behavior of a Solitary Felid' LINK |
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