112 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1954 



NEEDS OF THE ZOO 



Replacement of antiquated structures that have long since ceased 

 to be suitable for the purposes for which they are used is still the prin- 

 cipal need of the Zoo. Urgently required are : 



A building to house antelopes and other medium-sized hoofed ani- 

 mals that require a heated building. 



A new administration building to replace the 149-year-olcl historic 

 landmark that is still in use as an office building but that is neither 

 suitably located nor well adapted for the purpose. 



A fireproof service building for receiving shipments of animals, 

 quarantining them, and caring for those in ill health or those that 

 cannot be placed on exhibition. 



A new ventilating system for the bird house. 



Lesser items of equipment that are needed are a vacuum pump for 

 more efficient and economical operation of the heating system in the 

 reptile house ; a band saw to replace one that is more than 40 years 

 old ; and an air compressor for general use about the Park. 



The enclosures and pools for beavers, otters, seals, and nutrias, in 

 the ravine, need to be reconstructed. Owing to lack of funds for 

 upkeep, and consequent deterioration, this area has become unsightly 

 and inadequate for the proper care and exhibition of these animals. 



In addition to new buildings, new paddocks are needed. Over the 

 years, space for the exhibition of such animals as deer, sheep, goats, 

 and other hoofed animals has been curtailed so that the collection no 

 longer contains the proper assortment of these attractive and valuable 

 animals. This has been brought about by the natural deterioration 

 of materials, making some of the paddocks no longer usable; elimina- 

 tion of some paddocks for the construction of buildings on the sites ; 

 and abandonment of some paddocks that were in undesirable loca- 

 tions. Further abandonment of some paddocks is imminent to make 

 way for parking space for cars and buses to offset losses in such space 

 that will occur if the Rock Creek-Potomac Parkway is extended 

 through the Zoo property on the east side of the creek. Construction 

 of ten new paddocks and rehabilitation of six old ones are urgently 

 needed. 



Provision of new parking space necessitates grading and surfacing 

 about 14,000 square yards of land in several different locations. 



The establishment of parking space near the mechanical shops will 

 make unavailable an area that has been used for the storage of a 

 reserve pile of coal. As this location has never been an entirely satis- 

 factory one, it would be highly desirable at this time to build an 

 addition to the regular coal bunker to increase the capacity and elimi- 

 nate the need for maintaining a separate reserve pile. 



The steadily increasing popularity of the Zoo, as a source of both 

 entertaimnent and education, has developed such a volume of requests 



