ANIMALS FOR ZOOS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 51, 23 May 1927, Page 12

ANIMALS FOR ZOOS

HOW THEY ARE CAPTURED ADVENTURES IN EAST AFRICA Since leaving the Indian Army Mr. R. Bruce-Smith has embarked on an interesting, and, at times, dangerous occupation. In partnership with Mr. James Gordon, he is engaged in the supply of African wild animals to European zoological gardens. With headquarters at Nairobi, the capital of the Kenya Colony, in British East Africa, they have worked over an area of many thousands of square miles, penetrating as far as the borders of Abyssinia. In a journey just concluded they obtained 92 specimens of African fauna, including elephants, zebras, buffaloes, cheetahs, lion cubs, oryx, baboons, bushbuck, elarrds, hawks, owls, puff-adders, pythons, and various species of monkeys. Mr. Bruce-Smith was accompanied on the expedition by his wife.

Elaborate preparations were necessary before the “safari” or hunting party was ready to depart. Motor-cars were used for travelling, and these were fitted with strong three-ply hoods and special bodies which could be used for sleeping in when necessary. In addition, two powerful motor-lorries were taken, in which the cages containing the heavy animals could be carried. With Nairobi as a base, journeys were made into outlying districts where the game sought was reported to be plentiful, and in one year the party covered 6,000 miles. The most beautiful animal obtained by Mr. Bruce-Smith was Grevy’s zebra, a larger and more powerful beast than the more common Burchell zebra. These animals inhabit the country about 250 miles north-east of Kenya, on the frontier of Abyssinia. They are captured by being driven into a corral, afterwards being roped and tied to posts until they have become used to human beings. A hunter named Rattray, who is an expert in catching zebra, has so domesticated the Grevy zebra that he drove a team of them 250 miles .to Nairobi recently, and they behaved as well as a team of horses. It was in the locality where these zebras are caught that the Duke of York hunted big game on his recent visit to East Africa*