OUR ZOO.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1610, 29 November 1912, Page 6

OUR ZOO.

« NOTES ON ANIMAL LIFE. . DOMESTIC QUARKEL: A VIXENLY LHYLL FUIUOSO. [By J. Crewes, president of the Wellington Zoological Society.] Again the white swan has hatched some fine cygnets, 'rnuy are not many; and whetlicr llwy are so closely inbred as to be too lazy and weakly to live in this age of stress and strain and competition is a question that is causing some anxiety at present. Jlr. Langridge (the curator), ever careful and painslaKiiig, has inane special preparations to shield and feed the new-born tcioiLS of tile royal birds. All wlio would see Ule cygnets, However, should "hurry up," for the lives of young white swans are very uncertain, and wo aro not sure that ait tho cygnets in tiie Xoo are of tno white species. About Bears, v ltecently I met in one of tlio streets of Weiniigton a geuUewan wiio knows a great ueai about sevcuU sciences. 1 said to Jiim, "fair, i Know tuat you have studnxl science, anil tiiereiore 1 trouule you witli a question, I inusi apologise ior uouig so." "Don't apoiugise,' ne said, "it is always a pleasure to converse ivitii any persun who studies the sciences, x tiuve siudieu science, and olio of tlio principal oi tne rusuits ol my studies is tue conviction oi how littie X Know." To meet sucn a gentleman as that in New Zeniand is a very rare treat; but his words should )>o laKen to heart by all tho boys and girls of iNew Zealand; and they wm perceive the wisdom oi tneiu, if they notice the mistakes tnat many persons expose who parade their hastiiy-ioriued assumptions and inferences, insiead ot lacts. Una of the most important uses of a Zoo is to train young students to observe carefully, to siowly but accurately acquire knowledge, anu to publish it even more cautiously than they acquiro it. Long ago 1 directed attention to some agregious blunders that some amateur zoologists had—in another paper—written about sea lions. Later, 1 directed attention to some popular errors about monkeys. Now 1 must add a lew words about bears.

It has been repeatedly asserted that the big brown bear in the Zoo is a' great carnivorous animal, that eats a large quantity of flesh, and consequently'is very custly in its keep. ' But I navo seen tho bear fed many times; and lmve been repeatedly assured that the animal iij always fed upon such iood as. 1 havo s«en given to it, and has not. eaten a pennyworth of flesh, since it was placed in. the Zi'o. ■ Bears are classified among the carnWora, but "boars exhibit but a comparatively sm-ail carnivorous development; for, strong as they are, their dentition, particularly in the form ot th; crowns of tho molar tctt(i, indicates a propensity bordering on the frugivorous ' exclusively; and, indeed, it appears, that though they are omnivorous, they rarely devour flesh, except from necessity." Now, as another bear is wanted for the Zoo, and excellent accommodation has been provided for it by tho City Council, it is right that tho public should know that a bear is not a great tlesh-cater, but is an animal that fe«ds in moderation on bread and milk and carrots and other vegetables in the summer, and, if allowed to, would hibernate during the winter. Men who know most-about animals know but little of what- may be learnt from them. Girls and boys who read The Dominion should observe, inquire, and study when they .see a Z-00, that they may be kept from writing or otherwise publishing, statements more plausible than accurate.

Critical Friends. When lost I wrote, one ostimable gentleman whom I have always highly admired had suggested that the Zoo was a place of cruelty, because the animals ill it'lived under unnatural.conditions. No sooner had a few words of correction been submitted to him than other critical friends broke out on tho opposite side. They seemed to think that some animals in the Zoo died from being exposed to too natural conditions. One day and night a great. storm blew in Wellington. Of course the animals which live under unnatural conditions were 'sheltered and lived; but several young mallard, which livfe under natural conditions, ran, and waddled, and swapi, wcro beaten by, billows they couldn't breast, and blown about by tempestuous winds. Naturally,, some of the young mallard died. Then their friends suggested that in stormy weather young mailard.should be shut np in cat-proof, rat-proof, storm-proof yards and reared. To plcaso every person is evidently impossible, and I hope that in the Zoo, the mallard will- bo.left free as tlio winds, to give the ever-varying interest of their restless life and changing beauties to (he Zoo, and .die, as other beauties do, in the natural order of things. Tlis curator takes special care of a sufficient number of young mallard tb ( koep up a good supply for the Zoo pond,' and that is as much as is likely to pay for doing in that lino. The Central Zoo, . New Zealand must have a Dominion Museum in Wellington, says tho voice of the concentrated wisdom of New Zealand, sounded from .its' Parliamentary centre. "Hoar, hear!" the people represented heartily respond. But I submit that tho State that spends more money on a national museum than on a national Zoo is like-a State that would spend more money on a national cemetery than on a national university. Such a State would bs evidently preparing to die, not to live. New Zealand, like all other great bodies, must die; but the youthful must not spend the most of her time looking into sepulchres. It is time for New Zealand to turn her face towards the rising sun, and learn tho important lesson learned by progressive nations' long ago—that "a living dog is better than a dead lion."

There are somo beautiful pheasants in tile Wellington; Zoo. Some of them belong there, and others have been only temporarily deposited. Some publicspirited citizen ought to buy, and present to the city, at least one pair of tho Swinhoe. The Wellington Zoological Society wants to buy and present' a pair of jmrebred Amherst There ought also to be in the Zoo a pair of Reeves. While tho Zoological Society and the City Council are looking out for now attractions for the Zoo, interesting additions are taking place within. Since the beginning of Inst winter, Axis deer, marmosets, rabbits, mallard, _ Muscovy ducks, cocltateol, turkeys, silver pheasants, doves, budgerigars, canaries, Java sparrows, and. finches that are alive and healthy have, beeii born in tho Zoo, and to-day there are sitting a parrot,' a turkey, a pheasant, and several smaller birds. Quarrels. There is not in this world anything more attractive than a fight. Most of our histories are crowded with reports of battles. Newspaper proprietors know that war correspondence, reports of prize fights, notes on boxing matches, and matter of that kind sell better than sermons. Just so in my simple notes the most attractive element is reference to "rows." I don't know how many persons, have gratified me with references to tho last notes I passed on to The Dominion', but the report of the Cardinal's fatal figiht excited, most attention. Now it must not be thought that tho Cardinal in tho Zoo is exceptionally cruel. Among animals in a zoo, ■as among human beings outside, in many instances tho most affectionats members are the most sensitive and murderous. If, a month ago, any person had asked me which pair of all tie several pairs of animals in the Wellington Zoo were the fondest of each other, I should have said: "The pair of which the female during most of her time has her arm around the neck of her 'spouse adored.'" For a long time after they , were first placed in the Zco the coy little creature would not come to the front of their humble domicile unless her natural protector carried her. on his back or shoulders, to which ,she clung with all the tenacity of life. Never have there been in the Zoo such effusive demonstrations of fondness as this happy little devotee lavished on her long-suffering worshipper. But. alas! a few nights ago a wonderful change was wrought in their domestic relations, and in the morning poor "spouse adored" with a gaping gash in his neck and other signs of a fiery onslaught upon him was taken torn and bleeding from tho fury of tho vixenly little furioso to whom ho had always been so kind. Aye. says some person. "Life under unnntural conditions again." No, my friend, I say life inside tho Zoo and outside is everywhere in this particular just the same. The separated quarrelers in the Zoo to-day are much happier than many a monkey in the ■jungle-:, and many a sen-lion on tho seashore. While animal life exists and animal passions remain there'will always he interesting 6tori.es for entcrprijiug newspapers*