The leopard or panther (_F. pardus_) is far more common than the tiger in all parts of India, and at least equally destructive to life and property. The greatest length of the leopard is about 7 ft. 6 in. A black variety, as beautiful as it is rare, is sometimes found in the extreme south of the peninsula, and also in Java.
The cheetah or hunting leopard (_Cynaelurus jubatus_) must be carefully distinguished from the leopard proper. This animal appears to be a native only of the Deccan, where it is trained for hunting the antelope. In some respects it approaches the dog more nearly than the cat tribe. Its limbs are long, its hair rough, and its claws blunt and only partially retractile. The speed with which it bounds upon its prey, when loosed from the cart, exceeds the swiftness of any other mammal. If it misses its first attack, it scarcely ever attempts to follow, but returns to its master. Among other species of the family _Felidae_ found in India may be mentioned the ounce or snow leopard (_F. uncia_), the clouded leopard (_F. nebulosa_), the marbled cat (_F. marmorata_), the jungle cat (_F. chaus_), and the viverrine cat (_F. viverrina_).
Wolves (_Canis lupus_) abound throughout the open country, but are rare in the wooded districts. Their favourite prey is sheep, but they are also said to run down antelopes and hares, or rather catch them by lying in ambush. Instances of their attacking man are not uncommon, and the story of Romulus and Remus has had its counterpart in India within comparatively recent times. The Indian wolf has a dingy reddish-white fur, some of the hairs being tipped with black. By some naturalists it is regarded as a distinct species, under the name of _Canis pallipes_. Three distinct varieties, the white, the red and the black wolf, are found in the Tibetan Himalayas. The Indian fox (_Vulpes bengalensis_) is comparatively rare, but the jackal (_C. aureus_) abounds everywhere, making night hideous by its never-to-be-forgotten yells. The jackal, and not the fox, is usually the animal hunted by the packs of hounds occasionally kept by Europeans.
The wild dog, or dhole (_Cyon_), is found in all the wilder jungles of India, including Assam and Lower Burma. Its characteristic is that it hunts in packs, sometimes containing thirty dogs, and does not give tongue. When once a pack of wild dogs has put up any animal, that animal's doom is sealed. They do not leave it for days, and finally bring it to bay, or run it down exhausted. A peculiar variety of wild dog exists in the Karen hills of Burma, thus described from a specimen in confinement. It was black and white, as hairy as a skye-terrier, and as large as a medium-sized spaniel. It had an invariable habit of digging a hole in the ground, into which it crawled backwards, remaining there all day with only its nose and ferrety eyes visible. Among other dogs of India are the pariah, which is merely a mongrel, run wild and half starved; the poligar dog, an immense creature peculiar to the south; the greyhound, used for coursing; and the mastiff of Tibet and Bhutan. The striped hyaena (_Hyaena striata_) is common, being found wherever the wolf is absent. Like the wolf, it is very destructive both to the flocks and to children.