ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



605 



this moment we are reaching out to British 

 East Africa for Reticulated Giraffes, Gerenuks 

 and Hartebeests ; to British Cohimbia for the 

 Inland White Bear ; to Yakutat for the Glacier 

 Bear; to the Mishmi Hills for the Takin, and 

 to South America for the Maned Wolf, Giant 

 Otter and Spectacled Bear. During the year 

 1909, we safely landed the Sable Antelope, 

 Mountain Zebra, Greater Kudu and Musk- 

 Ox ; and we have every reason to hope that 

 1910 wall be equally fruitful. 



Through the force of inexorable conditions, 

 the grouping of the collections in every well- 

 regulated vivarium is based upon zoological 

 classification. Manifestly, it is impracticable 

 to arrange the beasts, birds and creeping 

 things geographically ; for such an arrange- 

 ment would involve a duplication of buildings 

 and other installations that would be almost 

 endless. \\'ith 500 acres of land and water, 

 and $10,000,000 in available cash, such an ar- 

 rangement would be possible ; but the end 

 would not justify the waste of means. 



In previous publications we have reported 

 upon our mammal collections as viewed by the 

 zoologist and evolutionist, and now it may 

 prove both novel and interesting to consider 

 them faimistically, or, in plain English, as if 

 grouped geographically, to represent the con- 

 tinents from whence they have been derived. 

 Indeed, there are times when the general stu- 

 dent of animal life finds it difficult to decide 

 which arrangement of living forms is the more 

 interesting. — the systematic-zoological, or that 

 which represents continental faunas. In our 

 National Collection of Heads and Horns we 

 have cut this delightful knot by forming and 

 exhibiting two series of the large land mam- 

 mals of the world, one zoological!}' arranged, 

 the other geographically. 



In the stocking of a new zoological garden 

 or park, the first principle to be observed is 

 always the same : collect the animals that will 

 make the greatest show of the local fauna (if 

 there is one !) in the shortest time. It is 

 natural that people should desire first of all to 

 become well acquainted with the wild life of 

 their own land. In obedience to this nattiral 

 law, our first care in 1899 was to gather the 

 greatest possible number of representatives of 

 the fauna of the North American continent. 



When we think of the contributions of the 

 continents during the first decade of the 

 Zoological Park, "the past rises before us like 

 a dream." It requires no imagination what- 

 ever, nothing but fairly good memory, to call 

 up before the mental vision six long proces- 

 sions of four-footed animals, slowlv but steadilv 



wending their way to the woods of the Bronx 

 that have been dedicated to zoology. It is not 

 necessary to turn to printed or written records, 

 for the memory is abundantly able to supply 

 all the details of this bird's-eye view that the 

 mind has time to consider. 



The world has poured into the Zoological 

 Park many of its richest zoological treasures, 

 and all in order that the people of New York 

 may know, by personal acquaintance, the best 

 representatives of the vertebrate wild life of 

 the globe. It is a great satisfaction to know, 

 beyond a possibility of error, that the people 

 of New York appreciate the effort that has 

 been made for them here. During the year 

 1909, the attendance of visitors at the Zoologi- 

 cal Park, by actual turnstile record, rose to 

 1,614,953, — ^ number equal to nearly one- 

 half the population of the second city of the 

 world. 



Let us for this occasion depart from the 

 strict routine of the zoologist, and view our 

 small animal kingdom through the field-glass 

 of the geographer. Let us imagine that we 

 stand on the summit of a tall peak which might 

 have existed on Fordham Heights, and view 

 the contributions of the continents, in living 

 quadrupeds for the Zoological Park, as actually 

 made from 1899 to 1909, inclusive. It will 

 add to the interest of the spectacle if we state 

 here that of the 244 large or otherwise spe- 

 cially important species that without any book 

 reference on our part will be mentioned in 

 this review, exactly 191 are living in the Park 

 to-day, and of the 53 that have disappeared, 

 and have not yet been replaced, 25 are small 

 forms. In our review of the species, those that 

 to-day are missing will be printed in italics, to 

 distinguish the quick from the dead • but it is 

 to be remembered that we mention onh- the 

 most prominent species, and many of those 

 now missing will return. The total number of 

 mammalian species now living in the Park is 

 2^4, and the grand total of indivi('uals is 

 812. 



NORTH .\MERIC.\. 



The first large mammal to reach the new 

 Zoological Park was a Woodland Caribou, 

 from Champlain County, Canada. That was 

 in the summer of 1899. It was quickly fol- 

 lowed by a herd of Elk. and seven American 

 Bison, purchased in Texas and Oklahoma and 

 delivered at the Park by "Buffalo" Jones. 

 Four years later, Mr. William C. A\iiitney 

 presented to us his fine herd of 26 bison, and 

 since that time the herd has so rapidly in- 

 creased by breeding that 20 individuals have 

 been withdrawn from it for bestowal else- 



