SECRETARY'S REPORT 119 



After trying for several years the National Geographic Society 

 procured for the Zoo a specimen of the very rare dwarf armadillo 

 (Burmeisteria retusa) of the Bolivian region of South America. 

 It was obtained by W. Frerking, a National Geographic Society 

 correspondent keenly interested in the undertaking, and was flown 

 from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, by the Pan American and National Air 

 Lines without cost. It arrived in perfect condition, and while not a 

 showy exhibition animal it is remarkable in form and appearance, 

 and its great rarity makes it an outstanding "first" for this Zoo. It 

 may be the first to be alive in the United States. It is about 7 inches 

 long. The pink color of the body shows through the shell, there is a 

 fringe of white hairs around the edge of the shell, and the hair of the 

 underparts is white. The feet are pink and the front feet have very 

 large claws for digging. 



Lt. Col. Eobert Traub, of the Army Medical Research Unit, who is 

 now stationed at Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, again generously offered 

 the Zoo a considerable assortment of animals, from which a few were 

 selected. The most outstanding specimen was a linsang (Prionodon 

 linsang) which unfortunately died only a few hours before reaching 

 Washington. It is very rare in the wild and is not known to have been 

 in captivity before. 



The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through the kindly interest of 

 Donald L. Spencer in Alaska and William Tierre in Washington, 

 made a noteworthy contribution of an Alaskan brown bear (Ursus 

 sp.) — a female cub born about February 1955. 



The Army Medical School gave the Zoo seven chimpanzees of ex- 

 hibition quality. 



The National Geographic Society, through Gilbert G. La Gorce, 

 presented two beavers (Castor canadensis), the first the Zoo has had 

 for some time. 



Twenty specimens of a medium-size African galago (Galago sene- 

 galensis) were turned over to the Zoo by the Army Medical School 

 of Walter Reed Hospital, through Dr. J. A. Morris, after they had 

 served their purpose with the Medical Corps. They were in good 

 condition and are useful for both exhibition and exchange. 



The Army Medical School also gave three Mongolian gerbils 

 (Meriones unguiculatus) , which are sufficiently active during the day 

 to be good exhibition animals. This species was on exhibition only 

 once before. 



Two interesting African small mammals, a rock rat (Aethomys 

 kaiseri) and a kusu rat (Arvicanthus niloticus), were sent by Dr. 

 Lawrence Kilham of the National Institutes of Health while he was 

 engaged in research work at Entebbe, Uganda. These small mammals 



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