ANIMAL CENSUS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 291, 21 November 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

ANIMAL CENSUS.

MONKEYS A PROBLEM. ELEPHANTS & LION INCREASE LONDON. The monkey is the despair of tin census-taker. This is one of the many interesting facts indicated in the Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, jusi issued, says a special corerspondem of the Daily Telegraph. In a report by' Captain C. R. S. Pitman on Northern Rhodesia there is i detailed attempt to give the number. l of wild animals there. But the enum erators confess that “no estimate has been attempted of babooits and monkeys.” The “amazing progressive increase’ of buffaloes is commented upon. Theii total is put at 60,000, amd their growtl is described as a disquieting feature pf the game situation. In the report of the Uganda Protectorate, too, the prolific buffalo is shown to be a serious threat to economic development. Many 7 other wild animals are reported ,to be on the increase. In Uganda, the lion, the hippopotamus, and the elephant are flourishing excessively. Poisoned Potatoes for Pigs. The bush pig is such an unmitigated nuisance in this protectorate that the use of poison gas is frequently advocated as a check to his marauding propensities. But this method is too costly and calls for great care in application, so the most practical way of luring the pig to his doom has been found to be by means of poisoned potatoes, for which he Jias a great passion. A most gentlemanly fellow, according to an account by Capt. H. C. Brockenhurst, is the giant' panda of North-West China. He subsists entirely on bamboo stalks, but scrupulously preserves the very thin stalks and-the leaves for his spouse. This correct conduct in matrimonial life is an appropriate sequel to this noble -animal’s courtship. ■ During the mating season the male utters a kind of roar for three or four days in succession. During this time, the natives say, the female climbs into a tree, and the male remains on the ground.