Questions To A Curator

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 3, 14 July 1939, Page 27

Questions To A Curator

Some extracts from an interview with Mr. J. Lang ridge, Curator of the Wellington Zoo, which was heard from 2YA on July ?, It was one of the " Job of Work" series of talks.

Q: When animals arrive from other countries, do they take long to get ac‘climatised to their new surroundings? A: No, not long. As a matter of fact ‘they generally come out on cargo boats and they are gradually becoming acclimatised to change of food and weather on the way, Q: Do you lose many on the voyage? A: Not many-and this is where I can pay tribute to most ships’ butchers for the way they lok kafter our animals on the way. The shipping companies, too, in nearly all cases have been very helpful to us, ~ Q: And how do new arrivals react to their new keepers? A: Some are naturally shyer than others, and take a little longer to look upon us as friends-but we persevere with the mand they fall into line in time. Generally any new additions to the Zoo are young animals and are more adaptable than old ones.

A: Yes, when a polar bear killed one of his two wives. We could never quite get to the bottom of it. He had been living in peace with one of them for quite a long time when we introduced the other lady bear with whom he had lived for quite a while before. Whether he preferred his first love, or whether he thought two was company and three was a crowd, we don’t know-but he killed one of them. Q: Of all the many animals in your charge, which is the most treacherous? A: You will smile when I tell you that the most unreliable animal we have is a small stag. You never know what he is going to do next. He looks so innocent and sweet-tempered and he will come up to you and rub his nose into your hand, and then when your back is turned he decied to help you on your way with a fierce butt with his horns in the seat of your pants. Q: Do you find that your charges have any noticeable characteristics?

Q: You and your _ assistants mustmust have the patience of Job, I should think, A: Unless you have patience and good temper, then. you may give up the job. There is no room for badtempered keepers in this game. Generally speaking, animals know their bosses. Sometimes they are off colour and may not respond so quickly, and sometimes outside influences

A: Strange to say, they are mostly guilty of jealously — especially when two or more animals share the same home. We have two panthers in a cage, and if I start petting the male panther, the female will always come up and drive him off. She objects to playing second fiddle. Q: On my last visit to your gardens I noticed that in some of the big pens you had three

make them irritable and one has to be more careful. Q: Do aeroplanes wory them at all? A: No, they are quite accustomed to Q: What about earthquakes? A: During the Murchison earthquake, which was fairly severe, the animals were hardly put out at all, but the birds let us know about it even before we felt it. The pheasants in particular. I remember seeing the elephant carrying on just as if nothing had happened. Q: You and members of your staff don’t have it all your own way. You must get into trouble sometimes, surely? A: Now and again we get a bit of a nip or a scratch. But, of course, that teaches us to be more careful in future. Q: Tell me, have you ever had an animal escape from the cage or any trouble like that? A: No. Ihave been ver ylucky that way. The worst thing that happened in the Zoo was a murder. Q: A murder?

or four different types of animals hobnobbing together. A: That is so, but you noticed perhaps that they were not carniverous animals such as lions, pumas or tigers. You saw bison, mountain goats, and a reindeer, all together, perhaps. Q: Yes, but why? A: I do it partly as a study in contrasts, and partly to show how a happy family can be brought together under favourable conditions. In their wild state, each of these animals would live in herds, and each species would be at war with the other all the time. Here they are at peace with each other and are great friends. Do you find that visitors treat the animals well? A: Generally speaking, yes. Of course on crowded days you may come across some fool who thinks it funny to tease an animal behind bars. He is very rare, thank goodness. He gets short shift from any of us and is asked to leave the grounds at once. No healthy-minded person indulges in such nonsense, though.