Blood

At this moment--any moment--a man, woman or child is almost certainly being torn to pieces and gulped down by one or more wild animals in Asia. Accurate statistics are available only for India. Last week a bored clerk at the Colonial Office released the news that wild animals killed 1,974 humans in India last year; and that the humans retaliated by killing at least 21,605 wild animals for whose destruction rewards were officially paid. Snakes crushed or killed with poisoned fangs 19, 308 humans; and rewards were paid for the killing of 47,106 snakes.

Tigers ate 974 humans, wolf packs tore and gorged on 265, leopards 191, crocodiles 98, bears 82, elephants 78, wild pigs 73, hyenas

6. The Colonial Office pointed with pride to the decrease in human deaths due to wild animals from 3,605 in 1923, to 2,587 in 1924 and to only 1,974 last year. Curiously enough the only species of animal to take a greater toll of human life this year than last was the elephant. The number of tigers killed was 1,609, leopards 4,660, bears 2,485, wolves 2,361.