SOME PRIVATE ZOOS/ 



By F. G. Aflalo. 



Those who f reel}^ criticise the scant accommodation allotted to many 

 itmiates of the London Zoo are, no doubt, expressino- a very com- 

 mendable sentiment; but they do not appear to realize that it is a case 

 of little or nothing, and that, circumscribed as it is by public property, 

 not a fraction of an acre can be added to that corner of the Regent's 

 Park already covered by the familiar paddocks and buildings. It is 

 another matter altogether when private gentlemen, with the right 

 tastes and opportunities, give over their parks to beautiful and inter- 

 esting animals of all lands, and accord them, amid enchanting sur- 

 roundings, a liberty which, little more restricted than in their natural 

 homes, knows little of the perils of nature and nothing of the cruelties 

 of sport. The majority of men and women like to surround them- 

 selves with favorite animals; and if we must sometimes regret the 

 proclivity when we see larks beating their wings vainly against jealous 

 bars, we can have nothing but appreciation for such private zoos as I 

 have selected for notice in the present article. There is, as a rule, no 

 ulterior motive beyond the mere pleasure in seeing these animals well 

 and happy in their new homes, though in some few instances, it is 

 true, the fostering of science or sport has been at the bottom of such 

 experiments in acclimatization. 



The Duke of Bedford seems, with his hundreds of wild deer and 

 antelopes, cattle, sheep, and goats, which luxuriate atWoburn in amaz- 

 ing herds, to have taken over the scientific research once projected, but 

 since abandoned, by the society of which he is president. The Jardin 

 d'Acclimatation in Paris is similarl}^ interested in the practical side of 

 introducing useful or ornamental exotic animals. Sport, again, has 

 been responsible for the introduction into these islands, at more or less 

 remote dates, of the pheasant, red-legged partridge, and carp. 



If we have borrowed, we have also lent; and our I'ed grouse, once 

 found only in the United Kingdom, has succeeded so well in parts of 

 Belgium and Germany that new game laws are now necessary for its 

 preservation on the continent. The only government, however, which 



" Reprinted, by permission, from Pall Mall Magazine, London, Vol. XXV, Hep- 

 tember, 1901. 



8M 1901 44 689 



