78 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



further emphasizes the need for more efficient restaurant facilities. At jiresent there 

 is no suitable restaurant, only an open jjavilion where candy, cakes, and light bever- 

 ages are sold. As the park is at a considerable distance from the city, the al)sence of 

 a properly equipped restaurant is a great inconvenience to those wishing to spend the 

 day in it, particularly if they are accompanied by children. The erection of a public- 

 comfort building especially equipped for ladies and children, and with a restaurant 

 attached, is therefore very desirable. 



It would be jnuch more satisfactory as well as less expensive if sufficient appro- 

 priations could be made to jirovide i)ermanent buildings as rapidly as they are 

 required by the public needs and the gro^^•th of the collection. At present a con- 

 siderable jiart of the ai)propriation has to be spent each year in repairing temporary 

 structures. The park has now T)een in operation long enough to safely determine 

 where i^ermanent improvements should l)e placed. 



The principal object for which the park was originally instituted was the jireserva- 

 tion of our national game, especially that which is becoming extinct. This has 

 been represented to Congress, but as yet no special provision has been made for it. 

 According to your recommendation an appropriation will again be asked for collect- 

 iug and preserving some of the great land and marine specimens of our western 

 territory now rapidly disappearing. Experience has abundantly proved that such 

 wild creatures, unaccustomed as they are to the sight of man, can not proj^ierly be 

 transported inunediately after capture, as they are likely to seriously injure them- 

 selves or even to die of friglit if some means are not taken to gentle them or accus- 

 tom them to being handled. I can therefore entirely agree to the value of the 

 method you have proposed of establishing some small station or stations in Alaska 

 where there are yet found specimens of the Kodiak bear, the great moose, the wal- 

 rus, the fur seal, and possibly other large creatures. They could there be confined 

 and kept amidst familiar scenes and be fed iipon their natural food while becoming 

 more accustomed to tlie sight of man and more tractable. The expenditure for such 

 stations would be slight. 



I have already mentioned that after years of effort the park lias at last procured 

 one Kodiak bear cub. Bears as a rule do not breed freely in captivity, but it is most 

 desirable to try the experiment, under such favorable conditions as the park may 

 afford, and I hope that more animals of this species may be obtained. 



I close with a list of the animals of the i:)ark on June 30, 1902, and with a reitera- 

 tion of the statement that the ])ark is nevertheless not filling its i)rincii)al function 

 until it can maintain and jireserve for posterity the most important specimens of the 

 great vanishing fauna of this country, and particularly of Alaska. 



Animals hi National ZooUxjIcal Park, June ,)0, lOOi^i. 



