A MODEEN MENAGERIE; MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL 

 ZOOLOGICAL PARK 



By N. HOLLISTEB 



[With 18 plates] 



The zoological garden idea is a very old one, and its inception 

 dates back beyond all written history. It is certain that primitive 

 man early began to surround himself with captive beasts, some of 

 which became the progenitors of our modern domestic animals. 

 Collections of wild animals formed a conspicuous part in civil and 

 religious life throughout many of the early civilizations, and the 

 menagerie, both public and private, developed into an institution of 

 most remarkable proportions and importance. The ancient Egyp- 

 tians kept great collections of living animals, including not only 

 the native species but others brought from distant parts of the 

 then known world. In the United States National Museum is a 

 large case of thousands of bones, dating from about 2000 B. C, 

 which were collected by Doctor Hrdlicka from tombs in Egypt. 

 This great lot of bones contains the remains of many species of wild 

 animals, and the number of big bears is remarkable. The ancient 

 rulers of Mongolia and of China maintained deer parks and menag- 

 eries; and the great interest of the Greeks and the Romans in 

 collections of living animals is well known. 



In the New World, numbers of native animals were early domesti- 

 cated, and the Aztec kings kept well ari^anged collections of wild 

 beasts and birds for the instruction of their peoples. The first 

 American buffalo seen by European eyes was confined in the me- 

 nagerie of the last Aztec emperor of Mexico, Montezuma; this was 

 nine or ten years before the buffalo was discovered in a wild state 

 to the northward, and the captive animal had been brought not less 

 than four or five hundred miles to the Aztec zoo. 



There is alw^ays something fascinating about the capture, taming, 

 and care of wild animal pets ; and almost any one who has, as a child, 

 experienced these joys, appreciates, later in life, the modern zoo- 

 logical garden. That the zoological garden is one of the most popular 

 of municipal enterprises is evidenced by the great activity in its de- 



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