Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park 12

Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park 12

The typical Fallow Deer is in winter very dark brown, with light brown

legs and under parts, and in summer light red with white spots—quite

like the axis. From this standard, the variations run from pure white

through the color of the wild type to jet black.

 

The fine herd in the Zoological Park is the gift of Mr. William

Rockefeller. Six of its original members came from the donor’s herd at

Greenwich, Connecticut, and six were purchased from one of the imperial

parks of Russia, by consent of the Czar, and represent the most hardy

stock obtainable.

 

[Illustration: BURMESE DEER.]

 

The Burmese, or Eld Deer, (_Cervus eldi_), also known as the Brow-Antler

Deer, is one of the rarest species to be seen in captivity. Living

specimens are acquired only through special expeditions to northern

Burma. Its most characteristic feature is the antlers of the male, which

sends forward a very long and almost straight brow tine, while the main

beam sweeps backward in the opposite direction, and describes a full

semicircle. The antlers are both very heavy and long for the size of the

animal. The specimens shown here, which are breeding satisfactorily, are

the gift of Mr. William Rockefeller.

 

The Barasingha Deer, (_Cervus duvauceli_), also called the Swamp Deer,

is to India what the mule deer is to North America. To my mind, the

antlers of the former always suggests the latter species, and in size

the two species are much alike. In summer the coat of the Barasingha is

of a beautiful golden-yellow color, conspicuous from afar, and the

antlers of old males reach a length of from 35 to 41 inches, with three

bifurcations on each beam. The antlers sometimes are shed and renewed

twice in twelve months. With us this species breeds very regularly, and

the offspring mature well.

 

The Altai Wapiti, (_Cervus canadensis asiaticus_), is, in all

probability, the parent stock of our American elk, but it happens to be

a fact that our species was the first to be discovered by systematic

zoologists, and described. To all visitors who are interested in deer,

the Altai Wapiti—and also the Tashkent Wapiti—are a constant source of

wonder, because of their well-nigh perfect similarity in all points to

our own wapiti, or American elk. Our Asiatic wapiti are exhibited in

ranges connecting with the western rooms of the Asiatic Deer House,

where they have bred twice, and produced two fine fawns. In the rutting

season the males are very cross and dangerous. They are hardy, and

require no heat in winter.

 

The Indian Sambar, (_Cervus unicolor_), always suggests a tropical

understudy of the Altai wapiti, clad with thin, coarse, bristly hair,

and with shorter and smaller antlers, and a bristly mane all over the

neck. Each antler possesses three points, only. Of all the Old World

_Cervidae_, this species most nearly approaches the size of the Altai

and Tashkent wapiti. It inhabits the hill forests of India, and in

Burma, Siam and farther south it is replaced by the next species.

 

The Malay Sambar, (_Cervus equinus_), also called—most

inappropriately—the “Horse-Tailed Deer,” very strongly resembles the

preceding species, except that the bristly mane of the former is

generally absent. The antlers of this species are shorter, also, but

very thick in proportion to their length. The Malay Sambar is confined

to the Malay Peninsula and the countries immediately above, and Borneo

and Sumatra.

 

This species possesses many admirable qualities, and it might be

introduced to advantage in our southern states. It is very even-tempered

and sensible, easily handled, is a vigorous feeder, breeds persistently,

and matures very rapidly; but in every New York winter, it requires some

heat in its barn.

 

The Maral Deer, (_Cervus maral_), is in appearance like an extra large

red deer or a small elk. It is a midway member of the Wapiti group,

which extends in a somewhat broken chain from Colorado, northward across

Bering Strait to Asia, and thence across Asia and Europe to Scotland. We

have owned a fine pair of Maral Deer, from the Caucasus district, but

they have failed to breed as expected.

 

The European Red Deer, (_Cervus elaphus_), is an understudy of the

American elk, which it much resembles in form and in habits. Next to the

elk it is the finest living deer, and for many generations has held its

own against the dangers of in-breeding. In the parks and forest

preserves of Great Britain and Europe, it exists abundantly, but only as

private property, subject to the guns of the owner and his friends. This

species has been successfully crossed with the American elk.

 

Other Asiatic Deer will be found in the Small-Deer House, in the

southern end of the Park.

 

 

THE LION HOUSE, No. 15.

 

As a spectacle of captive animal life, there is none more inspiring than

a spacious, well-lighted and finely-appointed lion house, filled with a

collection of the world’s greatest and handsomest wild beasts. To build

an ideal lion house, and to fill it with a first-class collection of

large felines, are matters involving no little time and much money; but

the sight,—for the millions of visitors,—of lions, tigers, jaguars,

pumas, leopards, cheetahs, black leopards, snow leopards and clouded

leopards, all under one roof, surely is worth what it costs.

 

The Lion House of the Zoological Park was completed, excepting a few

minor details, early in the year 1903, and was formally opened to the

public in February. It is 244 feet long, 115 feet wide, including the

outdoor cages, and its cost when completed reached $150,000. The

materials of the building are the same kind as those used in the Reptile

House and Primate House, but the animal sculptures, all by Mr. Eli

Harvey, are more abundant and conspicuous than on any other structure

erected heretofore. The building contains 13 indoor cages, and 9 outdoor

cages, and between the two there is free communication. The sizes of the

various cages are as follows:

 

Interior cages: Largest, 14 feet wide, 22 feet deep; smallest, 13 feet

wide, 14 feet high.

 

Exterior cages: two end cages, 40×44 feet, 17 feet high; central cage,

40 feet square, 14 feet high; smallest, 13 feet wide, 12 feet deep, 13

feet high.

 

[Illustration: JAGUAR.]

 

Excepting for the single fact of having interior and exterior cages, the

Lion House of the Zoological Park is—like the Primate House—an entirely

original development. Its most important new features are as follows:

 

All cage service, the introducing and withdrawal of animals, is

conducted from the rear, by means of a track underneath the sleeping

dens, and an elevating platform car.

 

The communication between indoor and outdoor cages is direct and

continuous.

 

Instead of upright iron bars, all the cage fronts are of hard-steel wire

netting, in rectangular pattern, attached to wrought iron frames. This

is considered by the Zoological Society a great improvement upon the

heavy bar-work hitherto in universal use for cage fronts in lion houses.

 

[Illustration: CHEETAH.]

 

The space above the sleeping dens has been developed as a sunlit

balcony, whereon the animals will be very conspicuous, even to large

crowds of visitors.

 

Jungle-green tiling, impervious to moisture and dirt, is used as a

back-ground for the animals.

 

The Lion is an animal of perpetual interest, but like every other

noteworthy wild animal, its haunts are constantly being claimed by

civilization, and its members are rapidly decreasing. It is not a

difficult matter to exterminate or drive out from a given territory any

large and conspicuous quadruped, and at the present rate of settlement

and industrial development in Africa, it may easily come to pass that by

the end of the present century, the king of beasts will be without a

home, outside of zoological collections.

 

Like everything great, the Lion has his share of critics and detractors.

A few writers have asserted that because he does not stalk through his

native forests with head proudly erect, like a drum-major on parade, he

is mean-spirited and cowardly. But the beast of noble countenance

believes in the survival of the fittest, and both by inheritance and

observation he knows that a lion who needlessly exposes himself in the

field captures the smallest amount of game, and attracts the greatest

number of steel-tipped bullets.

 

[Illustration: BARBARY LION.]

 

Although Lions vary greatly in their color, and in the length of the

mane, it is conceded by naturalists that only one species exists. In the

same district and under precisely similar conditions are found

short-maned and long-maned individuals, and all shades of color from

tawny yellow to dark brown. The present geographic range of the species

is from Southern Rhodesia to Persia and northwestern India, but in

northern Egypt there is a large extent of territory which is lionless.

 

By reason of his heavy mane and massive countenance, supported by the

grandest roar that issues from throat of beast, the Lion appears to be a

larger animal than he really is. It is yet an unsettled question whether

it exceeds the tiger in length, height or weight, and it is certainly

true that in point of size these two species are very evenly matched.

 

In captivity, the Lion is reasonably contented, and under good

conditions breeds readily, and lives a goodly number of years.

 

The Siberian Tiger.—Strange to say, the tiger ranges far to the

northward of its proper home in Hindustan, even to Corea, Manchuria and

Russian Siberia. In those cold regions the tiger grows to its greatest

size, and is clothed with a dense coat of long and shaggy hair. In

collections, the great northern tigers are the most highly prized. The

Zoological Park has recently acquired from East Siberia two fine young

specimens, born early in 1909, and all the year round they inhabit the

great northern outdoor cage attached to the Lion House. It is a strange

sight to see tigers living outdoors in winter in New York.

 

[Illustration: SNOW LEOPARD.]

 

The Tiger will be found upon the earth long after the lion has

disappeared. He is a far better hider, a more skillful hunter, less

given to taking foolish risks, and he does not advertise his presence

and invite his enemies by the bombastic roaring in which the lion

delights to indulge. The Tiger is an animal of serious mind, and he

attends strictly to business. A lion will stalk out into the open, in

broad day, but the Tiger sticks closely to cover until the friendly

darkness renders it safe to roam abroad.

 

Despite the density of the population of India, and the omnipresence of

sahibs with rifles of large caliber, the Tiger still inhabits all India

from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Burma,

Siam, and certain portions of China up to the region of snows. Corean

and Siberian Tigers are much sought after by zoological gardens, partly

on account of their size, and also because they are so hardy they are

able to live out doors all winter in the temperate zone. The Tiger is

not found in Africa, nor in any country westward of India.

 

The maximum length attained by this animal, head, body and tail, is 10

feet 2 inches. A very large specimen killed by Dr. Hornaday measured 9

feet 8½ inches in length, stood 3 feet 7 inches high at the shoulders,

and weighed, on the scales, 495 pounds. In India, Tigers are classed

according to their habits, as “game-killers,” “cattle-lifters,” or

“man-eaters.” Fortunately, in comparison with the total number of these

animals, the latter are few and far between.

 

Of yellow-coated felines, The Jaguar, (_Felis onca_), is next in size to

the tiger. In South America, it is almost universally called “El Tigre”

(pronounced Te’-gre), which is Spanish for tiger. Comparatively few

Americans are aware that this superb animal belongs in the fauna of the

United States, but such is the fact. The northern limit of its

distribution is found in southern Texas, where it still exists in small

numbers. In South America it extends to Patagonia.