170 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



provided clinical laboratory services including microscopic tissue 

 reports. 



Identification of parasites from specimens in the collection were 

 made by M. B. Chitwood and W. W. Becklund of the Parasite Classi- 

 fication and Distribution Investigations, Beltsville Parasitological 

 Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 



Necropsies of major and important specimens were performed by 

 the pathologists of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Walter 

 Reed Army Medical Center. Necropsy materials not needed by the 

 Institute were offered to Dr. Thomas Peery of the George Washington 

 School of Medicine for comparative pathology study. 



Isolations and identifications of suspected tubercular tissues were 

 made by Dr. Karlson of the Mayo Foundation. 



Following are the statistics for the mortality rates during the past 

 fiscal year and a table of comparison with the past 6 fiscal years: 



Mortality, fiscal year 1961 



Death 



Mammals 102 



Birds... 163 



Reptiles 132 



397 



Total mortality, past 6 fiscal years 



618 

 549 

 550 

 472 

 532 

 517 



•Attrition Is the term used for those losses due mainly to the trauma of shipment and handling after ac- 

 cession at the Zoo, or before an animal can adapt to cage habitation within the collection. 



The old pair of Nile hippopotamuses, Pinky and Bongo, were "re- 

 tired" from the Zoo in the summer of 1959 and placed on deposit at a 

 private zoo in Virginia to make room for a younger pair. The male, 

 Bongo, who had come to the Zoo on April 7, 1914, died on December 4, 

 1959, after 45 years 7 months 27 days in captivity. The female, who 

 was 11 years old when she was obtained on April 25, 1939, died on 

 December 31, 1960. 



Other animals that had been in the collection for a relatively long 

 time and died this year were : A kiang {Equus onager) received Oc- 

 tober 14, 1934, died August 16, 1960, after 25 years 10 months 2 days; 

 South American lungfish {Lepidosiren paradoxa), received May 6, 

 1932, died January 18, 1961, after 28 years 8 months and 12 days. An 

 Indian fresh- water turtle {Batagur haska) was a very old specimen 

 when it arrived on September 17, 1947. It died May 19, 1961, after 

 13 years 8 months 2 days. It was the only one in captivity in the 

 United States and probably the oldest specimen of its kind in any zoo. 



A homed toad, Ceratophrys omata^ collected by Frances Shippen 

 on the National Zoological Park Expedition to Argentina (received 



