ZOO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2181, 20 June 1914, Page 10

ZOO NOTES

WHEN DAY & NIGHX MEET

THE LEOPARDS A PROBLEM FOR NATURALISTS (By John Crewes, President of the Wellington Zoological Society.) 11l the morning when the birds of day salute the sun, in the daytime when tho peacocks and the parrots clothe themselves with light and shine in the sevenfold beauty of its hues; and in the evening when day and night meet in the twilight, and more of the animals in a Zoo appear than at any other time, the Zoo is interesting. In lino weather when artists ■ sketch the animals, and in gloomy . weather when strange forebodings seem to indicate impending changes, the Zoo i attracts attention. ' A year or two ago 1 read a long report written by a journalist who had been moved by a strange impulse to describe a Zoo in the ram. If a Zoo in rain is a subject interesting enough for a newspaper article, a Zoo under any circumstances must be interesting. That must be wy apology for asking my readers to give attention to the Zoo in the twilight. A Cat Puzzle and Problem. ' When recently 1 saw 'the Zoo in tho twilight,, two animals strongly attracted my attention: They were much more active than they generally are in full daylight. One of them is a common leopard (felis pardus); The other is labelled "Hunting Leopard (cynalarus jubtttus)." The two animals are in some particulars unlike cash other; but they resemble each other in at least one particular which to be true to their labels they should differ in. A hunting leopard or cheetah (cynalarus jubatus) should not have any rosette on its skin. Its black spots should be plain, scpar- ■ ate spots or' dabs, not yellow centred rosettes The so-called hunting leopard in the Wellington Zoo has the rosettes of a common leopard. Whence those rosettes? I once saw in Wirth B.ros.' menagerie an animal that I think was like the so-called hunting leopard in the Wellington Zoo I was told that that was a hybrid—a crossbred between a common leopard and a cheetah. But some naturalists tell us that a cheetah and a common leopard arc not different varieties of one species nor different species of one genus, but. that a cheetah is so unlike tho leopard that it must bo regarded as of a separate genus. One thing seems evident: it is that the socalled hunting leopard in our Zoo is not *a cheetah. Yet. he has much of tho form of a cheetah and he seems to havo tho temper and disposition of a cheetah. In the-twilight he was very lively. He evidently played to try to amuse me and wanted for me to play, with him. Ho also lay up against-the bars of his fence and 'as plainly as ho could, repeatedly asked rue to get in and pat and pet him. The.common leopard is a eat. There is a great difference between'a cat'and a dog. The cheetah is a kind of connecting, link between a cat and a.dog. The so-called hunting leopard in our Zoo is, I think, neither a leopard nor a cheetah, neither a cat nor a dog, nor the natural connecting link between the cat and the dog. Many times have the midnight minstrels, our domestic cats (Felis domostica) puzzled our inventiveness when wo have tried to dissolvq their nocturnal melodies into restful' silence, but tho persistence of the civilised serenaders has not been more-perplexing than tho problem of the rosettes on tho beautiful, raiment of the 'ambiguous leopard in our Zoological garden. The common leopard is naturally a ferocious, blood-thirsty, treacherous animal. Our common leopard is; I think, true to that. A cheetah, Mervyn Smith who saw cheetahs in India tells us, can for courage, daring, cunning, and audacity, give points to any beast of the field, and does : more damage to cattle and goats than alltho other wild animals put together. But a cheetah will not attack a man, whereas, a leopard is generally a dangerous animal' for a man to deal with. It is possible to domesticate a cheetah and make of it like a dog a constant, affectionate, and faithful friend. In this our problematical hunting leopard in .tho Zoo resembles tho cheetah. /To see the leopards at their-best we'must see .them in the twilight. A Beautiful Phalanger. , Two species of Vulpine Phalangers, or Marsupialian opossums awako and show themselves in the twilight. During most of the day thoy are curled up in boxes and are asleep or as dull as though they were, but in the twilight they brighten up beautifully. These beautiful little marsupials have been acclimatised in New Zealand, and 1 feel sure that of our Jl.P.'s that have none of them in their district, would take their wives into the Wellington Zoological Garden in the twilight and show them the beauty of the fur coats of the [ sooty phalangers. Due protection for these very valuable little assets would permanently be provided by Act of Parliament or Government regulation. A Cat of Another Colour. Like a parenthesis in a sermon this paragraph may seem out of place in this batch of notes, but I put it in lest it might be forgotten. A few days ago a gentleman , told me that he had at home a peculiar black cat. It is bandylegged in front and strangely shaped behind—a healthy cat, but a freak! Tho gentleman mentioned asked whether I would, on behalf of my society, accept it to bo placed in tho Zoo. I did not feel disposed to accept it then, and now I must once for all say that, having consulted my friend, Mr. Castle, the secretary of our society, I have decided never to accept on behalf of the society any animal that, is not a good normal representative of the species of which it is a member. Our Zoo must bo small and thero should be ho defective animals in it. Unlike the hybrid leopard which opens an important problem to naturalists, the- deformed black cat does not offer sufficient attractions to take hold of my commendation. Twilight Music. I havo heard of the music of the dying swan and have been wont to associate it with the dying day. I have never hoard that, however, and am now taught to doubt whether any other person over did. But no pootie imagination ever suggested any music for the evening hour more superb than I heard when I was* in the Zoo in tho twilight. In one of the tall fir trees, near the lion's cage, a bird perched himself and gave such a recital of music as,l have hut seldom heard from a soloist The distinctiveness, definiteness, liquidity, and variety of the notes; the sweetness and volume of sound, the perfect ease and grace of the modulation and the full-hearted naturalness of tho whole entranced me. I asked one of the keepers of Urn Zoo to tell me what bird it was. He told mo thafc'ifc was a thrush. I thought that if it was a thrush he was a great artistic imitator as well as a consummate natural musician. Then I turned to Dyson's interest in?, little Imol; and read that the male thiusli "has great imitative powers, »:ul will readily leu in limes played on wind instruments or whistled to liini." The thrush Hint I heard in the twilight has evidently approprialerl some beautiful snatches from, other birds and has made an excellent: selection. Tn the twilight there often is much enchanting music in the. grounds of the J.oo. In competition with our Zoo musicians the tliru.sh_ wins the highest award that I can give! lie not only composes admirably and ikt- . formß perfectly,, but what is of eaual

.importance to a popular organist or pianist, or violinist lie is wry suw.f-s.s-t'nl in selecting Ms music for public presentation. A Box of MjEtfiry. In one o!" th* tages in the Zoo tliu.ro is a small box. Visitors see inside it somo straw. Just outside llio box a I'e.w peanuts and some othov little- things that a monkey would at any moment seize if he coutd only gel the chance. I once asked a keeper to let mo see what was under tin;- straw in 'thai box. tie kindly showed -me two little hying opnsstnns, or Australian Hying squirrels, curled up snugly sleeping m apparent comfort. Day-drcanieis mu ( v dream of thorn,'lmt .wiclo-awfiko people m the daylight cannot see tile little marsupials. To see the flying opossums you must go to the Zoo in the twilight. In this light all the squirrels are at their hest.