LIONS AND THEIR WAYS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1687, 1 March 1913, Page 6

LIONS AND THEIR WAYS.

AS SEEN AT WELLINGTON ZOO.

PRECOCIOUS LITTLE RICHARD,

WANTS TO SEE THE WORLD.

PLEA FOR FAIR PLAY.

By J. Crowes, President of the Wellington Zoological Society.)

Lions ore always interesting, and as far as wo know they always have been, q Herodotus, tlio father of history, wroto a about lions. I'ausanias vroto about them. 0 I'liny wroto about them. Several of the 6 writers of tho Bible wroto about lions. v Kings of ancient Babylon kept lions. c Emperors of Komo kept some. Prom tho I days of King Darius, who put Daniel, the 1 Hebrew prophet, into a den of lions, £ down to tho days of Cecil Rhodes and 1 Ilagonbach and Roosevelt, men of all 5 classes have seen much to study and ad- ( mire in lions. And nil who get the op- I portunity to sec and study the young > lions in the Zoo should do so. Thero is ( great strength and diversity of character < in lions, and the varying moods, the <lis- ' tinctivo traits, and the infantile behavi- ] our of the young lions, as well as tho • tactful' treatment their sagacious mother ' gives*to them, are well worthy of careful ] observation and study. ! Mors Money. 1 Soon after my last budget of notes appeared a lady sent a shilling, expressive • of tho pleasure she had received from reading them. Since then tho Zoological Society has been getting money for tho ( prizes to be given in connection with tho art competitions. But the following 6ub- ' scriptions towards the purchaso of the lioness have been received by me personally and handed to the town clerk:—A friend, per Mr. Castle, 2s. Bd.: Mr. J. ' Gallie, per Mr. Castle, 10s.: J. Moxham, ' per J. Crewes, Is.; Master Leslie Parton, per Mr. Castlo, 35.; Mr. J. Castle, 55.; Mr. J. A. Stone, 2s. Cd.; Two Working Girls, ss. Gd.; J. Crewes, 108 6d. —£2. A Precocious Baby. One of tho little lions is rather precocious. This one is a male, I think. His mother tried to keep him behind the partition that hidn9 from the outer world tlie chamber in which he was born. Tint he was only a few days old when, while j his mother was outside feeding, he struggled out to see what lay beyond the dark partition. Of course, he wis instantly ordered to retreat, and then gently taken by the napo and carried back to bed. But now although he is not a fortnight old he begins to 6how the spirit of his father. King Dick is, even now, as playful as n kitten, but ho will not not be driven, except under protest; and any person who has noticed the fire Dick puts into a protest against being kupt waiting for his dinner knows that pater Richard does not like to bo_ treated as. a ■ subject or subordinate. Little Richard is exactly like his father. The littlo fellow will not bo driven, but seems to be always ready for fun. His mother seems to be a good reader of character, as, when 1 last saw lier trying to menace her littlo obstreperous offspring she caressed him kindly first, and then, when he was pleased with her kindly attention, licked him and lifted and steered him with her tongue, until sho had turned him in. Hands Off That Lioness! Tho Wellington Zoological Society may buy tlnmingoes,\procuro a brown bear, ask an enterprising firm to present a zebra, scour Australia for a bower bird' and.'a pair of turkeys, and America for beavers,' and may, with tho full consent and concurrence of tho City Council, do each or all -of several other good things. But should any person dare to suggest that tho Zoological Society has had anything to do with purolmsing the lioness, then a storm cloud will gather over the Town Hall, and thunder and lightning mny be expected, immediately. I have my list back, however, ■ and readers of my notes may contribute to the liones3 fund through mp personally. Bears. Some porson has asked whether tho Zoological Society wants to place in tho Zoo a boar of every species. To that my answer is no. Wo want to get one male European brown bear, to mate with the blown bear in tho Zoo, and occupy tho tenement which is still to let in the magnificent building the City Council hag ( provided. 1 Improvements. During the last week some interesting 1 animals were exhibited in small cages in the Zoo. Many persons directed my attention to the narrowness of the cage . in which a Himalayan bear was confined. ■ They will bo pleased to learn, and all visitors visiting the Zoo henceforth will bo glad to see, that the arrangements Mr. ! Langridge was pushing forward to pro- | vide suitable accommodation for the now . arrivals have been completed and all the animals now have commodious lodg- . ings. ; Congratulations to Councillor Frost. Every person must admit that Council- ; lor Frost has worked hard to establish, I defend, and improve the Zoo. I therefore . have great pleasure in heartily congratur, latin? him on the success of his effort' to , purchase tho lioness, and on x the stroke . of good fortune lie brought to the city ; by clinching a bargain, to purchase the ) lioness, before tho cubs wore bom. Col- [ lectors were just canvassing the city for ; contributions to tho hospital fund, other , workers were collecting for the coming i carnival, the Zoological Society was pur- ; chasing flamingoes and arranging for art ) competitions, and the season for school t treats was in, when Councillor Frost, , with a few of his friends arranged to buy • tho lioness, and look to tho city to sup- , ply tho necessary money. 110 has suc- , cceded in. interesting a good many citizens , in tho Zoo, and has supplied further evir denoe of tho fact that if the City Coun- ; cil will provide for tho accommodation ) and upkeep of a small, educative, and t generally interesting Zoo, citizens of all classes will co-operate to supply suitable animals, and will approve the council's conduct. Another Suggestion. Wo are told that the Government has . recently vested in the Wellington City - Council a large area of land for the imt provement of tho city's water supply. In l consideration of that, and as the Zoo is V an important part of the Dominion's edut cation, tho City Council should for f.ll c time amply supply tho Zoo with water 1 free of charge. . The Zoo and the Museum. [ Whatever will the city do with so • many great carnivorous "animals if the lions keep on increasing as they are? This is a question that is troubling fome ' anxious hearts. My answer is the Dominion of New Zealand and tho Welling- | ton City Corporation each has a museum l in Wellington, and they have not a good , skin of a male lion between them. There ; is room in the museums for two full ! grown, and two very young, lions, should 1 tho food bill for the Zoo bccome too heavy at any time. And hero I may say that up ' to now tho Zoo has not been treated • fairly by its critics. Very valuable ani- ' mnls have been sent from the Zoo to tho t Newtown Museum, but the value of them has not been credited to the Zoo. But ' for water supplied to the Zoo a charge ' is made against tho Zoo, and for every tin of rubbish the Zoo sends'to the do- | structor n charge is made in favour of i the destructor. lam glad that Councillor Frost and his friends are demonstrating ' what the Wellington Zoological Sccicty is demonstrating, that citizens of all classes arc interested in tho Zoo, and I ho]» that they, with us, will work to make a free course for the progress of tho 7,00, and to obtain fair ploy for it.