Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park 11

Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park 11

The Woodland Caribou, (_Rangifer caribou_).—The first hoofed animal to

arrive at the Zoological Park was a young female of this species, which

was procured in Champlain County, Canada, and forwarded to the Society

by one of our members, Mr. George S. Huntington. These animals, when

present in the Park, will be kept in a small enclosure, because a large

range containing an abundance of green grass is fatal to them.

 

The wild range of the Woodland Caribou extends from Newfoundland, Nova

Scotia, and Maine, with many wide gaps, to the head waters of the Yukon

River, in southern Alaska. The following localities are worthy of

special mention: northern Quebec and Ontario; James Bay; the northern

end of Lake Winnipeg (occasionally); Lake of Woods, Minnesota; Oregon

near Mount Hood; northern Idaho; northwestern Montana, and the mountains

of British Columbia.

 

Quite recently, three new species of caribou have been added to our

fauna, one from the Alaskan Peninsula (_Rangifer granti_), one from the

Kenai Peninsula (_Rangifer stonei_), and one from the Cassiar Mountains

(_Rangifer osborni_).

 

The Woodland Caribou attains nearly twice the bodily bulk of its more

northern congener, the Barren-Ground caribou. In a state of nature it

lives on browse, reindeer moss, tree moss, and lichens, and it loves

ice-covered lakes and ponds as much as any boy. Its loose-jointed and

wide spreading hoofs and enormously developed “dew-claws” have been

specially designed by Nature to enable this animal to run freely, as if

on snow-shoes, over snow or bogs, which to any small-hoofed deer would

be quite impassable.

 

The female Woodland Caribou is provided with small antlers, which, like

those of the male, are shed and renewed annually.

 

In the absence of caribou in the Park, visitors are advised to look for

specimens of the Lapland Reindeer, (_Rangifer tarandus_), for we shall

endeavor to keep this genus represented.

 

 

THE ZEBRA HOUSES, No. 14.

 

Although the main building of this installation has not yet been

erected, the plan for the various buildings and corrals has been

approved, and the main building was begun in 1911 and completed in 1912.

The three buildings, and the extensive corrals connecting with them, as

a whole, do justice to the important and picturesque Family _Equidae_,

which includes all the zebras, wild asses and wild horses of the world.

 

[Illustration: GRANT ZEBRA.]

 

The Prjevalsky Horses, (_Equus prjevalskii_).—Of all the wild equines

which either now or hereafter may be seen in the Zoological Park, the

strange little wild horses from western Mongolia are, and probably will

remain, the most interesting, from a zoological point of view. Broadly

speaking, they are the connecting link between the many-striped zebras,

the little-striped quaggas and the wild asses on one side, and the

domestic, unstriped horse on the other. These wild horses possess a

narrow, dark dorsal stripe, which, in the winter pelage is scarcely

visible, but in summer is plainly evident. A perfect specimen has an

erect mane, no long forelock and no “chestnuts” on its legs. On the

upper half of its tail the hair is short, and mule-like, but on the

lower, or terminal half, it is long and horse-like. The winter coat of

this animal is very long and shaggy.

 

Mountain Zebra, (_Equus zebra_).—This species has been nearly

exterminated by man, and is rarely seen in captivity. It inhabits the

mountains of Cape Colony, and it is estimated that only 400 individuals

remain, which now are carefully protected.

 

[Illustration: PRJEVALSKY HORSES.]

 

Grevy Zebra, (_Equus grevyi_).—This picturesque species was discovered

in Abyssinia, when Jules Grevy was president of France, and it was named

in his honor. It is of large size, covered with very narrow stripes all

over its body, head and limbs, and its huge ears are of remarkable form.

This species is limited to southern Abyssinia and British East Africa

southward to the Tana River.

 

Grant Zebra, (_Equus burchelli granti_).—Of all the zebras now seen in

captivity, the great majority belong to what very properly may be

designated as the group of Burchell Zebras. This group contains, besides

the type species, which has practically no stripes on its legs, four

subspecies, whose legs are more or less striped, and which may or may

not possess “shadow stripes” on the hind-quarters. A “shadow stripe” is

a faint, dark stripe in the middle of a wide white or pale yellow stripe

which lies between two broad black stripes.

 

Grant Zebra is the most heavily striped of the subspecies composing the

Burchell group. The visitor will observe that its horizontal leg-stripes

are very pronounced, and so numerous that they are carried quite down to

the hoofs. The ground-color of the animal is a cold white, and the thigh

and body stripes are very wide and intense. This fine pair was captured

in Masailand, East Africa, in 1902.

 

Chapman Zebra, (_Equus burchelli chapmani_), also belongs to the

Burchell group, and in its color pattern it approaches quite nearly to

the type. The legs of the male bear a few stripes, those of the female

almost none. There are visible on the hind-quarters of the female a few

faint shadow-stripes.

 

The Persian Wild Ass, (_Equus persicus_), is a very satisfactory

representative of the wild asses generally. Its dorsal-stripe is very

wide and sharply defined, but it bears no shoulder-stripe, and those

that are faintly indicated on its legs are nothing more than oblong

blotches of dark color. As its name implies, it inhabits Persia, and

Syria, and a closely related form, the Onager, (_E. onager_), is found

in Beluchistan and western India. A third species, the Kiang (_E.

hemionus_), is found on the plains of Tibet.

 

 

THE ASIATIC AND EUROPEAN DEER, Nos. 1-3.

 

In representatives of the deer, (Family _Cervidae_), Asia far surpasses

all other countries. Her species number about 38,—fully double that of

any other continental area,—and from the great Altai wapiti to the tiny

musk deer, the variations in size and form are fairly bewildering. The

entire hill that rises between the Fordham Entrance and Bird Valley,

from Cope Lake to the Zebra Houses, is devoted to the series of houses,

corrals and ranges that are occupied by the deer of Asia and Europe.

 

It is quite certain that a number of desirable species of Asiatic deer

can successfully be acclimatized in the parks and game preserves of

America, and induced to breed. Almost without an exception they are

strong and vigorous feeders, and they keep fat and sleek when our own

black-tail, mule deer and white-tail mince like pampered epicures, grow

thinner and thinner, and finally die of “malnutrition.”

 

Believing that the members of the group amply justify the effort, the

Zoological Society has been at considerable pains to bring together a

fine, representative collection of the Old World _Cervidae_ and properly

install its members. Although the series proposed is not quite complete,

it contains such rarities as the Altai Wapiti, Barasingha, Burmese

Thameng, Malay and Indian Sambar, and several others. They are sheltered

by four houses, the largest of which crowns the summit of the hill on

the right of Osborn Walk as the visitor enters from Fordham. For the

visitors’ convenience we will make note of the various species about in

the order of their appearance, and not in zoological sequence.

 

The Axis Deer, (_Axis axis_), is the handsomest of all the tropical

deer. Indeed, it may even be said to be the only species of the tropics

possessing both form and pelage which are alike pleasing to the eye. In

contrast with the many beautiful and splendidly colored antelopes of

Africa, the deer of the tropics, all round the world, are poorly

provided with those characters which make a handsome animal. With the

sole exception of the Axis Deer, nearly all the other deer of the East

Indies have thin, coarse, dull-colored hair, their antlers are small,

and seldom have more than four points. This is equally true of the deer

of Mexico, Central and South America. Even our own white-tailed deer, so

lusty and fine in the North, becomes in Florida and Texas so dwarfed

that it has now been called a subspecies.

 

Considering the severe plainness of all the other deer in the tropics,

it is a little strange that the coat of the Axis should be the most

beautiful possessed by any deer. But it is quite true; and apart from

the majesty of the elk, there is no more beautiful sight in cervine life

than the picture offered by a herd of Axis Deer feeding in a sunlit

glade surrounded by forest.

 

This species adapts itself to out-door life in the temperate zone with

surprising readiness, not even second in that respect to the eland. As a

matter of course the Axis can not withstand the fierce blizzards of

midwinter as do the elk and other northern deer; but a reasonable degree

of care in providing it with a dry barn, and shelter from cold winds,

enables it to live even as far north as northern Germany with perfect

comfort. In winter our Axis Deer barn is moderately heated by a stove.

 

The Japanese Sika Deer, (_Cervus sika typicus_), is a small

representative of a large group of deer species inhabiting far-eastern

Asia, and known as the Sika Deer group. A ridiculous number of forms

have been described as species and subspecies, of which possibly

one-third are entitled to stand. Some of those on the Asian mainland, as

the Pekin Sika Deer, are much larger than the Japanese Sika, and also

more strikingly colored. The latter species, shown in our northernmost

corral, is about 33 inches in height, and of a dull and uninteresting

smoky-brown color. Its antlers are quite large for a deer so small, and

in the mating season males are sometimes dangerous. This species is very

hardy, breeds persistently, requires no heat in winter, and very rarely

sends a case to the hospital.

 

[Illustration: AXIS DEER.]

 

The Fallow Deer, (_Dama vulgaris_), is the type of a distinct group of

deer which are distinguished by the possession of antlers widely

palmated throughout the upper half of the beam. In some old Fallow bucks

the antlers are quite moose-like, and give this small deer an imposing