Page:Madras District Gazetteers - Anantapur.pdf/32

The indigenous cattle of the district are very mediocre and no trouble is taken to improve the breed by selecting either parent or by importing foreign strains. Probably the poverty of the fodder obtainable would in any case result in poor animals. Round about Pámudurti are raised cattle which have a great local reputation for their activity and hardiness, but they are not apparently a separate breed from the ordinary country cattle and owe their excellence chiefly to the nature of the country in which they are reared. Some of the Pámudurti owners recognise the importance of selecting a good bull to serve their cows, but as the cattle usually run in great mixed herds this knowledge is apparently seldom put into actual practice. The only really good cattle met with belong to the well-known Mysore and Nellore breeds and are imported. The former (which bear a strong likeness to the famous Amrat Mahál cattle, and are believed to be descendants of Amrat Mahal bulls distributed in the neighbourhood many years ago) are chiefly met with in the southern taluks. They are bought at the cattle fairs in Mysore or purchased as calves from itinerant cattle-traders. In the north of the district the Nellore cattle are commonest. They are brought over in large herds by drovers from that district and sold to the ryots, at high prices, on the instalment system ; a part payment down securing the

purchaser the animal and the remainder of the price being paid in two subsequent instalments. If the purchaser does not pay these instalments promptly the drover often waits in his house, living at his expense, until the money is forthcoming. Cattle disease is very prevalent and causes the ryots enormous loss. Buffaloes ,

The buffaloes are of the usual variety. They are often used for

sheep and

pack work as well as for ploughing and drawing carts. Sheep are

goats.

either of the black woolly species or the long-legged red animals covered with hair.

The black kind do not seem to occur at all in

Tadpatri, but in other taluks their wool is largely woven into blankets (see Chapter VI) by the Kurubas. The goats are of the ordinary breed. Game.

The larger kinds of game are rare. Tigers are said to be heard of occasionally in Madakasíra, but few authentic instances are on record.

A young cub of the true hunting cheetah was recently caught by the villagers near Goddumarri in Tadpatri taluk. Leopards are found in every taluk in the rocky hills and do considerable damage by killing cattle. In 1903 the deaths put down to them numbered 265. Wolves are not uncommon and bears are plentiful round about Amagonda-

pálaiyam in Penukonda taluk. Sambhar have been seen in the hills east of Bukkapatnam, but spotted deer are apparently not met with .

The chinkára (Bennett's gazelle) and the black-buck are fairly plentiful,