THE AARD VARK 209 



this incomparable exhibition, which includes the 

 musk ox, the Cape zebra, and other rarities. 



No province of the management of these 

 numerous institutions demands more resourceful- 

 ness than the task of obtaining the rarer animals, 

 together with the due care of them when 

 they have arrived at their destination. The 

 haunts of most species are so remote that the 

 mere journey thither forms a considerable item 

 in the expenses, and even when arrived at 

 the spot the traveller's efforts may be hindered 

 by war, fever, or the difficulty of transport. 

 Hence many creatures (such as the cobego or 

 flying lemur) remain practically unknown, save as 

 museum specimens. Other animals are of a 

 delicate constitution, and too frequently reach 

 Europe only to die, e.g., the gorilla, the slender 

 loris, and the elephant shrew.^ Others again 

 cannot be suitably fed on the voyage, so that 

 they are never sent over — the Australian mar- 

 supial mole for instance. The members of one group 

 of animals — the anteaters — seem to perversely 

 combine in their constitutions the several diffi- 

 culties which perplex the wild beast merchant 

 en rotite and the purchaser after arrival. Not 

 only do these anteaters inhabit remote regions, 

 whence it is costly to bring them, but being 

 accustomed to live in a hot country they require 



1 Four elephant shrews — animals exceedingly rare in captivity — 

 were safely landed in England in June, 1904. 



