WINTER IN THE ZOO

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2848, 12 August 1916, Page 13

WINTER IN THE ZOO

A SUNDAY RAMBLE'

OSTRICHES AND ROSES

(By "Sylvius.")

Though tho .winter broods over Newtown Park there is still plenty of life in tho growing Zoo that occupies the' south-east corner : 0f..,, these extensive park laiids, and what' surprised tho writer niore than anything (not- having visited tho Zoo/since last summer) was to "note the very large attendance there on Sunday last, a day oni which the weather . was distinctly gloomy aud / cold. On, a rough guess, ,1 should say that' there Were at ; least a thousand people in the grounds, all taking an intense interest in tho. fish, far, and .feather on view. When

"King Dick"; .serenaded! his lady-love with his .rich diapasonic notes, 'thero was a rush from all parts of the grounds to the cage-fronts to see what the trouble was" about. Ono tremble* to contemplate, the: velocity ■ of the rush there would be tho other way about if that fine monarch of the'forest (ruler of a domain he has never seen)' were to'gain his liberty for : a short half-hour: There is, however, no chance of 'such an exciting - contingency; for Dick and. Mrs. Dick are held in a cage., strongly encompassed by inch iron bars. .It may surprise, people to know that thero are at present seven, lions in tho Zoo, Mr. .1! Boyd's lion (loaned to the Zoo), with at least one cub, will bo removed northward, when the roses bloom again. While the "Dick" family are barred in, the other five lions are kept in a den, the open portion of which is only enclosed with expanded tnotaj, which looks frailty itself alongside the heavier protection of the adjoining cage. Mr. J. Langridge, tho custodian (who has had a quarter of a century's experience in . the handling of animals peouliar to raos) states that tho expanded metal is, as a matter of fact, stronger than 'tSo bars. Without wishing to iaiso an argument, I accepted his'assurance. He relates that when tho present King, ns the Duke of Cornwall, toured the Empire, lie' secured quite a Royal collection of animals, amongst them a tiger from India, which was shipped Home in a cage, the open part of which was only protected by a double wall of ordinary inch wire-netting. That tiger did not realise his opportunities. "Bill Massey" and "Joe Ward." Up tho hill, above the lions, .and above tho aviary and deer-parks, is the enlarged enclosure for' the ostriches. Pour : pairs have recently been added to the collection, and mighty fino big . birds they are, the level of their backs six feet from the ground, and their tiny heads, which at a distanco seem to be all eyes, perched another four feet higher. These latest and greatest birds in tho Zoo are from tho Helvetia Ostrich Farm in Auckland. One big- fellow, with a Vjld eye and !a whitish look about the ears, has already been named "Bill Massey," and another, who is more sleeic and clerk-like in aspect, bears the cognomen of "Joe Ward;" The birds were brought down from Auckland in ono big bullock-truck, and were delivered at tho Zoo without mishap of any kind by Mr. Langridge. Naturally, everyono, or at least every latly, looks tho ostriches over for the feathors that; never fade from fashion. but in that regard there is nothing doing, as they were picked from the birds' valuable tails before they loft Auckland, and there will be no ®ore until next autumn. The ostriohes have been placed on the crcst

of a hiil; which should bo tho driest place In the Zoo, and will be as soon as the rain ceases. In the meantime tho great claws—most deadly weapons of oSence—have tramped the earth into mud her© and there, but that is only, to bo expected in such weather as we have been experiencing. The caretaker, declares ono of the ostriches to be a regular l rogue. ■ He went into the enclosure the other day and had not walked half a dozen paces before "Bill .llassey" .made a wild swoop at him. .He had . just time to . dive for the gate when the bird was upon him, and before ho, coula get through its claw had slightly cut . the back of his hand. Vi'fth'a forward and. .downward stroke an' ostrich has been known .to .rip; a human being open. Note ' tire power in the legs and the uglymassiveness of the,,claws!

I had a vstgue iaea that pig-hunting was a mild amusement like rabbiting or playing golf on Sunday until I saw a formidablo and' extremely. dirty aniniai labelled "Maori pig—this animal bfl.es." Ho was heavily armoured witH half-dried'mud, and, standing passive in the bog he had created for himself, with almost undiscoverable eyes under long, sad eye-lashes, he looked a fairly harmless,, though a ,very ugly old "Captain Cook." Playfully, I poked, my walking-stick a couple of inched ..through the netting near the mud-encrusted noso. In ' a flash tho, animal was crunching the end of it with, wolfish intensity. I nover saw anything quicker in ray life—-nor do I know r of a more deceitful beast. My respects to all pig-hunters. The Sea Lions. On the otiler side of tho hill is the green water-pond, where in happier days the sea lions wero wont to wallow. The water is still gr£eii_and over so cold looking under grey, watery, winter sky, but peer as people would into the concrete caves no denizens of the "roaring forties" could be descried. One wiseacre informed me that they were well at the back of the cave, "fot they slept nearly all the winter." This was news to me —who have seen them frolicking 011 the beaches of Enderby Island (Auckland Group) in midwinter, but was too tired to humble my informant with my superior knowledge, and later askeil Mr. Langridge what had become of the sea-lions. Ho said they were all dead. In his opinion it-was utterly useless and a waste of money bringing up full-grown sea-lions, as it was .impossible to acclimatise: the mature' animal. There might bo a chance if they were caught young, but even then it was doubtful. Strangely enough they all died of the one ailment—lung disease. This, curiously enough, manifested itself/in the winter, when one would ordinarily think that these cold climate animals would thrive best. The caretaker believes, and so does the writer, that tho sudden changes of temperature here causes the lung trouble so deadly to these southern natives.' The Rose Carden. Where the willows formerly wept up the gully to tho south of the "fowl runs," tho lloso and Carnation Club's members are effecting a transformation. Wliero were formerly ancient willows, • rank and manuka scrub, is now a fair promise of a beautifully-designed rose garden, the beds evenly divided, in symmetrical design, by paths of tho greenest turf.** Some of the most exquisitely beautiful prize roses have been planted here, with a tall and stately "standard rose" in the centre of each bed, and in the middle of the rosery is a built of rough tree branches, which will be canopied with sweet-sceutcd clinibers a little later on. Owing to the work that has been going' on there, tho roads wore treacherously muddy and slippery, and ladies were rather irate at tho prospect of muddabs over their white-topped boots. Considering that tho rain had poured

tropically nearly the whole of 'last week, the Zoo grounds were wonderfully well-ordered. Enforced Neutrality. On tho way ■ home the curious spectacle of a pair of white ©wans on one sido of "tho wire-netting fence that stretches across the Zoo lake swimming parallel with a pair of black ones on tho other side, was attracting . attention. Backwards aaid forwards they went, always keeping exactly opposite. My mentor (Mr. Langridge) said that it was always necessary to separate black from white swans. They always fought savagely, and invariably the white swans (which are the largest) killed the "niggers." This "tread on .tie tail of my coat" parade was one that was repeated every day, but thoy could never get to holts, as their wings were kept well clipped. I came away with tho idea that the Zoo was becoming increasingly interesting—and expensive.