ZOO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2321, 1 December 1914, Page 3

ZOO NOTES

. ; 6 THE WOLF AND HIS FAMILY SOME NEWCOMERS [By John Crewes, Member of the Council of the Wellington Zoological Society.] ' "Be sure to -lcecp.on writing about the Zoo," said a well-known minister of religion, who is highly esteemed in the Presbyterian world, and in every other world that he is known in; and he assured me that he derived pleasure from reading my notes in The, Dominion. The eulogy that ho passed upon my ■ unpretentious jottings was too flattering to be reported here; but the consideration that a cultured gentlelnan, scholarly, and busy, felt that my Zoo notes were worthy of his attention; and that the time he spent in reading them was well spent'; taken with the assurance that I have recei.ved from industrious business men, and from toilers in seyeral other ranks, that they highly appreciate what I write about the Zoo, shall induce me to keep my note-book close at hand, and in odd moments, hurriedly, or leisurely, as circumstances may require, jot down niy cogitations on Wellington's paradise, and the objects of the Wellington Zoological' Society.'

Sensible Wolves. Not long ago some kind-hearted, wellintentioned person visited the Zoo, saw two wolves there, and went away and wrote about the poor wolves and'their conditions. We were told that one of the wolves was very thin, and that both appeared so disconsolate that in their misery they were pitiable objects, subject to cruelty from which they longed to break away. But what have the ;sensible wolves done? The male, not having, as I myself and many other unfortunate persons would have" in the course N of a long voyage, become very thin, wisely reftained from fretting, away the little flesh .that remained on his too conspicuous bones, took;advantage of the good appetite that change of 1 circumstances had provided for him, and put on flesh as steadily as. the Zoo commissariat would enable him; then, having put on a respectable appearance, he liccame the liappy father of four beautiful young wolves, that have filled, the lives* of both their parents"' with joy of. a fond affection. It is true that they have not a very large range of liberty ; but .they have a snug little den in which they can, be dry and warm, and they have an exercise yard large enough for them to take sufficient exercise to, keep themselves healthy. They cannot kill other ■animals; hut,_ on the other side, no other animal _is .allowed to kill or maim them. And it is only fair to say that the home-life 'of the. wolves in the Zoo is beautiful. The male is very fond of hia mate, and she confides in him. When danger seems to threaten her he assumes the defensive, and pledges his life to protect her interests. 3 et;.'although they are both high-spiritecl, quick-tempered, alert, and very fierce, they never quarrel'with each other, nor does the male ever worry the female. Thoir. affection and Eolicitude for their young also is remarkable. When, with tho curator, I was standing looking at two of tho young wolves, that were moving about just inside the entrance of the den, the father watched us, and he and the mother at intervals went to the doorway,, stretched their necks and put their, heads 'in to see' that there' was nothing. disturbing the ' young. In the course of my observation I have noticed that many human parents might take many lessons \ in .tenderness, gentleness,'' watchfulness, control and general management' of children from, the treatment that Mary, the lioness, aud both o'f the wolves in the Zoo have always 1 given to their infants. In the Zoo some parents are good, and others are not, but there aie in our Zoo monljeys, and a lioness, and two wolves, and a male silver phea.sinit that might be held up as models for all-parents, in the world to copy, human beings included. And it is very gratifying to notice how contented arid happy, under, the loudly ' treatment given -by Mi< Langridge and his assistants; even the wolves have become. Welcome Additions.

l'our wolves, six jackals, some silver, pheasants,'some ring-necked parrakeets, some blackbirds, two morepork owls, and several beautiful white rabbits have been born in the Zoo lately; and more than twenty Japanese fan-tailed gold 'fish h' vo been placed in the aquarriin. A good incubator also has been obtained, and duly installed. I had long, been pleading with the Zoological Society and with tho City Council for a good incubator, and I heartily .congratulate Councillor Frost, Mr. Langriage, and the City Council on having obtained at very favourable cost just such an; incubator as Mr. Castle and. myself wanted to see in the Zoo. Now we may expect to see some remarkable developments. Mr. Fathers, the president of the Wellington Zoological Society, is a naturalist whose ornithological ambition knows no limits. He never caught' a moa; but when lie was a boy l/iany persons were inclined to believe tnat there were a few moas, even then, knocking about, and that to catch one would crown tho captor with great honour. Now, Mr.' Fathers is, I believe, the only man in the'world that knows from actual experience exactly what would be the feeling of a boy if he captured a moa, for Mr. Fathers after a highly' exciting adventure 'really believed that- lie had done.it. Our president, when off duty, is a delightful raconteur, rone of several whose' recitals of their extraordinary experiences, told in odd moments of leisure, are among the most delicious of my memories, and the story of his great mistake in the ornithological line told.in his own inimitable stylo to nie recently, seemed so. natural and reasonable, but, withal, so ximical, that it shook up such laughter as I had not felt for a long time. However, we have both given up all hopes of catching moas; }mt even now, knowing that ostriches the largest, birds left alive in the. world,-1 believe that nothing less than'ostriches' will satisfy him. Already, having heard of the incubator, ho is egging on our secretary, who doesn't need much egging, to such an effort as that of getting ostrich eggs, and I venture to predict that those two zealous workers for the Zoo will persevere until young ostriches are seen standing in the Zoo incubator.

The Government and the Tuatara. •Wherever these notes may be read it will bo gratifying, to all friendly readers, to know that I recently received a letter from tho Hon. the Minister of Internal Affairs, in /ivliicli the following sentence appears:— "I especially desire to thank you for your remarks respecting the protection of the Tuatara lizard, and to state that tho Government fully recognises the desirability of protecting this unique reptile." It will be noticed by my young friendß that Mr. Bell speaks of the "Tuatara lizard." The reptile is, I believe', classed with the lizards by some eminent zoologists, but I prefer to 'speak of it as tho Tuatara, simply. Tho Ministor was kind enough to intimate-also soiue intention's that ho hopes to give effcct to soon, and I am sure that when ho does work thorn out the results will bo applauded wherever they are published and zoology is appreciated. The Aquarium. Thousands of people have visited the Aquarium, and, although it is young and the number of scocies of fisE

represented in it is not large, it has already fascinated the minds and excited the admiration of many observers, and has, to some who are not .very youthful, suggested problems of wonderful interest. 'By establishing the Aquarium, aiid publishing Professor Prince's report on the fisheries of New Zoaland, the Government has conferred inestimable benefits upon the people, especially the young people, of the Dominion; and all classes and parties should popularise these benefits as far as tho influence of all that seo thorn can be extended. 1 A Fortunate Brood. In the Zoo many mallard are hatched, but comparatively few are reared.to maturity. Of course the number reared is large enough to keep tho stock of mallard quite up to what it ought to be; and I' presume that some of the young ones that fall are useful as food for other animals. Some of the mothers, being in good condition, will not keep their young .up in a quiet sheltered marsh, but will while they are very young lead, them on to the deep open pond. There on a windv day the mother bird enjoys breasting the merry ripples, and the little ducks seem to like it for awhile; but soon their little heartengines fail, and they rest in death. In our Zoo, however, there is a large sheltered piece- of calm, shallow water.- The freehold of- this has been claimed by a Paradise drake and l his favoured spouse, and woe has betided ignorant little mallard that" ventured into this domain. But lately the Paradise duck laid several eggs, and resolved to set up a household, which, if she had proved successful, would 1 have crowned her the queen of beauty, as far as beautiful ducklings could bo concerned. Fortune, however, was not favourable to the proud prospector's hopes, and they failed. "''Just then a poor mallard mother, over-burdened with maternal cares, happened along with'a brood of eleven or twelve vigorous young dependents'. Then the desolate Paradise duck, instead of moaning over her own misfortunes,' or jealously striking at her successful neighbour, offered to share wfih the mallard mother her maternal duties and responsibilities. Tho Paradise drake approved of the suggestion, and for the last fortnight the mother and the ■ foster-mother have taken care of the young mallard, and the ■ faithful drake, who would fight man or mouse, has honourably stood guard. Many young, mallard have been born gnd have died since this strange entente cordiale was formed, but when I was in the Zoo a few days ago the fortunate eleven were yet alive.