ZOO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2305, 12 November 1914, Page 3

ZOO NOTES

EXTENSIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS AQUATIC WONDERS (By John Crewes, Member of the Council of the Wellington Zoological Society.)

The awful war in which our Empire is involved .stopped the noble effort thai the South Wellington Progressive Association was making to obtain a pair of zebras for the Zoo, but it has not paralysed the Zoo. The Government of the Dominion, the Wellington City Council, and the Wellington Zoological Society are wisely and heartily co-operating to promote the Zoo, and keep it steadily improving, and they are now backed by a united newspaper* Press and encouraged by the approval of an interested and approving public spirit. We may, therefore, expect that, as the age of the Zoo extends, the strength and influence of the young educational institution will steadily grow, and the people of the Dominion, with visitors from other parts of the world, will take an interest in it that shall b'o mutually beneficial. Councillor Frost, at the head of the Reserves Committee, is clear-headed, progressive, and cautious; and common sense is strong in the whole committee. The Mayor and the City Council are acting prudently, but are showing no sign of pessimism or presumption. The Government of the Dominion is wideawake and helpful. Mechanics are working, and Naturo, that generally helps them that help themselves, is working like Santa Claus, so that one fine morning presents will be seen that will interest a good many students of zoology, and amaze some. New posts are rising into the light, new pens are taking form, a new pond will soon be ready to receive waders, and new-fish, new birds, . new mammalian wonders, and a new incubator, or one better than any new one that we could get just now are all coming. I venture to predict that within the next few weeks education, in hor journey with the sun, will see in Wellington Zoo, and in addition to Paradise ducks and mallard, and innumerable doves and some beau-

tiful small birds, at least twenty remarkable exhibits that will delight our worthy Mayor, emvreath with . genial smiles Councillor Frost's good-natured countenance, and move hundreds of

astonished appreciative observers to say "We hardly thought it possible for our little Zoo to improve so, under the circumstances." A Superbly Brilliant Goldfish. I have seen many gems, but none that I have admired more than I have admired the most brilliant of the goldfish in the Wellington aquarium. That fish is a wonder of wonders. An adult.

gentleman looked into the tank where this beautiful fish is. but the only remark that the little wonder evoked tyas, "Oh, here aire some young goldfish, I suppose that they will grow to bo as big as the. others'—the ordinary golden carp. A little : girl, up with her elder sister and their grandmother ta see the aquarium, looked at the same little fish, and said: "Oh, here are goldfish." "Yes," said her sister, herself a little girl. "Yes,' but

these are Japanese goldfish, grandma, these are Japanese goldfish." There 1 was a" world of meaning-in that word Japanese. To a lover of beauty that can admire brilliancy of colour, exquisite delicacy of texture, and gracefulnoss of motion,., or can feel the fascination of a paragon of beauty, and study with delight an ineffably exquisite product of Nature, the gossamer fins and tail,'and the-marvellous proportion,; and (he; rich brilliant hues of that dainty denizen of the aquarium eliould bo sufficient to excite unspeakable admiration, and move him to give our Zoo extensive commendation. <

Eels and the French and the Cermans. "Whatever are these?" exclaimed a little girl as she recently looked at tho eels in our Zoo aquarium. ■" "I don't know," said her little sister, "they seem to bo like sea-serpents of some kind." Where tho little child got her idea of sea-serpents from ,1 cannot imagine, but her fancy proved that the aquarium is drawing children to observe closely and to study natural history. Eels- are so like serpents that we are told, on good authority, that a visitor in the South of France, having ordored eels for dinner, was asked if lie would have "eels of the hedge," or "eels of the river," as some kinds of snakes are oaten in Europe, and are keenly relished by some persons. By-the-by this brings up another question that is worthy of consideration, "Are" tho people of New Zealand acting wisely with regard to eels?" Recently when I was at the aquarium a well-known citizen of Wellington, who, although we must not class him with the aged, is not as young as he used to be forty years ago, related with gusto an. experience that ho enjoyed when, many years ago, he was, tired from walking and working, andSvas hungry with'the robust hunger of a strong man in his prime. A friendly Maori, seeing his condition, fetched a plate of eels to the hungry man, and such was the rapture of eating them that my friend waxes deliciously eloquent in praise of eels now when he sees some, even'in an aquarium. Eels are delicious food to hungry men, and .at this stage should be regarded as a very valuable asset to New Zealand. When the Germans , were buying sections of land, and laying on

them foundations for heavy guns in France and England, the German Government was also buying English eels to stock German rivers with, and I venture to say that it is probable that as part of German's-reserve food-supply at this time there are millions of four or five-year-old''English eels thriving in German reserves. Are we in New Zealand giving due attention to eelsr" Suggestive Wonders In the Aquarium. "Only common eels," say some persons as they look at the eels in the aquarium. Yes, but common eels are great wonders. In thou-jands of years men ate millions of eels; but know not whence eels came, nor, if they were not . caught, whither they went. Until recently but very few men knew whence they came. Whence came the eels that the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher and Councillor Frost have introduced to us? They are in fresh-water now, but 1 presume that they were born in the sea. But the sea is like heaven is said to be—a house of mariy mansions. In the sea. the inhabitants live in tenements, tho fc are virtually separated by invisible walls and partitions,, and floors, and ceilings. Some families live in cellars, some on the first floor, some on the second floor, some in the top story. No person has ever seen the Equator, but it would be as'easy for a man to pass through a wall of firo as for a right whale to cross the tropical region. Some animals that live at the bottom of the sea, where the water is salt, could not , live in' the water over their homes, where the water is in some places com--1 paratively fresh. But the common eel is a marvel. It emerges from, an egg ; down at the bottom of the sea, whero . tho water is 3000 feet deep. It rises and lives 1000 feet nearer tho surface. ' While vovmg it travels a long distance i and gets to the mouth of a river.. M>l- - lions of young eels horn down m the i dark depths of the ocean rise to light and together ascend a river, separate I when tliov choose to, and throw thenii selves from tho river on to tho land, l .travel over dewy grass, take advantage of watorv ditches, find living streams, and move themselves into marshes or into ponds. For years they live and , grow and thrive in muddy marshes, old • l ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, or * e5W>

voire of fresli water. When they are six or seven years old, or perhaps earlier, thoy go back to the sea and push out into the deep, where the lemalo deposits her eggs at the bottom at a depth of 500 fathoms more.or less. What then? Well,.echo answers, "What? As far as my knowledge goes the number of species of fish in our aq\arium is not great; . but there are several aquatic wonde.-s in it. Salmon which are born in fresh water and go down to the sea to feed and fatten and grow and mature come back to fresli water to deposit their ova, then return to the sea, and, what then? Eels which are born in salt water come up to the fresh to feed and mature, go back to the sea to deposit their ova, and disappear. Trout that are born in fresh water and go down to the sea later, and trout that are born in fresh water and live and die where they are horn; perch peculiarly marked with protective colouring, and carp that are gloriously conspicuous in their golden covering; eels that seem | like cats to have nine lives and Japanese goldfish so delicate and highly strung that all who- do not see them soon will never see them; these, and catfish, ■ which a few weeks ago were trying to hide as though" ashamed'or afraid to be seen, and no-v apparently

fearless, quite at home, and proud to be seen, all these are there. The aquarium is not large, but the general election will be over long before we •learn all that there is to be known about the fish of our growing aquarium. Broody Hens and an Incubator. The golden pheasant is a beautiful bird, and the Lady Amherst pheasant is • even more showy. A hybrid between the two is almost unrivalled in gorgeous splendour, in the pheasant world. We are fortunate in having a pair of these glorious hybrids in our Zoo; and it is gratifying to know that the hen has

laid several eggs, and is now sitting. A sitting hybrid pheasant in a place of exhibition is, however, a very uncertain .factor. Knowing that Mr. Langridge' had some valuable eags of move than one kind, I recently appealed for some broody hens and an incubator In the day on which my appeal was published in The Dominion a lady agreed with Mr. Castle, the secretary of our Zoological Societj', that a hen should be seiit to the Zoo. A beautiful hen was sent, and she has been sitting very promisingly. Later, Mr.- Fathers, the president of the society, tried obtain another hen for the Zoo, and ultimately succeeded in getting one, that was duly sent thither; but, aftor briefly exciting hope, she struck. Knowing then the desirability of getting nn incubator installed in the Zoo, I have been agitating, in season .and out of season, and have recently had the gratification of hearing that Mr. Langridge and Mr. ' Frost hare taken the matter up, and

that there is now reasonable ground for hope that the City Council will almost immediately.get for the Zoo an incubator large enough to take the eggs of ostriches, as well as pheasants' eggs.