and raptors are among the more charismatic species that can be easily seen. As for wild mammals, leopards transit the area from time to time; their prey are mainly dogs, including strays from Landour-Mussoorie and the neighboring villages. Also present are some jackals, barking deer (muntjac), goral (goat-antelope) and the secretive sloth bear. Among smaller mammals, yellow-throated martens, civets, jungle cats, and Himalayan weasels are seen, and the occasional flying squirrel. Pesky rhesus macaques and Hanuman langurs are as present in Landour as anywhere. Poaching has severely reduced the numbers of the larger wild mammals, though the habitat itself could support larger populations. Of course, most charismatic megafauna had already been wiped out by the British in the 19th century. Unsurprising, given the British penchant for 'blood sport', especially among the soldiery. After all, Mussoorie was first 'discovered' by Captain Young on a shooting expedition from his garrison in Dehradun. The ecology of the area clearly shows that tiger, Himalayan black bear, striped hyena, sambar, serow, Himalayan tahr, gaur and other impressive species (all are now locally extinct) were well represented in Mussoorie-Landour before British colonization; 19th-century writings by British hunters boast of the countless trophies they collected in the area. Deforestation itself dates from British times. There was also an early myth that "Indian forests are full of germs, which European constitutions cannot take"; clear-felling (clear-cutting) was the answer, as even a casual observer can still see, except in the Cantonment, thanks to the 1924 Act (see above). Many reforestation initiatives began in various hill stations in the late 19th century, thanks to some enlightened Raj administrators, but not in Mussoorie. Of late, the Indian Army has done yeoman service via its 'Eco-Battalions' in terms of re-forestation. Another local menace is non-biodegradable refuse. While there have been some steps by the citizenry (without much help from the authorities) to combat this, it remains a challenge. Much refuse is just dumped down hillsides by many locals—langurs, macaques, civets, stray dogs and other animals forage these open dumps. While the Indian Army has a somewhat better record, Doordarshan and All India Radio (both state-owned, revealingly) are notorious for calmly dumping most of their garbage down the hillsides of the Cantonment. Few in Landour Bazaar seem to take the environment seriously; that is for the "rich" of the Cantonment to worry about. Woodstock School, which remains the largest landowner in Landour behind