ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



615 



rarity and value. The \\'hite-Tailed Gnu, the 

 Brindled Gnu, the Common Waterbuck, Leu- 

 coryx and Reed-Buck, have been on exhibition 

 ever since the Antelope House was opened in 

 1903. 



Among the rarest of our antelopes are the 

 Lechee, the Addax, the Beisa, Congo Sita- 

 tunga. Speke's Sitatunga, Bontebok, Blcsbok, 

 and Redunca. Our only specimen representing 

 the group of Duiker Antelopes was deposited 

 by ex-President Roosevelt. It was the first 

 game-animal of Africa to greet him at Mom- 

 basa. 



The large Carnivora of Africa have been 

 much in the public eye ; but if the Dark Con- 

 tinent has an extensive fauna of small carniv- 

 ores, it remains to be exploited. The well- 

 known species seen here include the Lion, 

 Leopard, Cheetah. Scrval, African Wild-Cat. 

 Hyaena Dog, Black-backed Jackal. Genet, 

 Mongoose, [Nleerkat. and a few others. All 

 these, save the three species that are tempo- 

 rarily absent through sudden death and slow 

 replacement on account of rarity, are now 

 among those present in the Zoological Park. 



Of all the large carnivora of Africa, the 

 Cheetah is the most delicate and the most diffi- 

 cult to keep in captivity for a term of years. 

 The Lion and the Leopard are the species that 

 are most nearly indestructible. 



So far as heard from, Africa, in proportion 

 to its enormous area, is very poor in Rodents ; 

 and the only representative of that Order of 

 which our collection to-day can boast, is the 

 African Porcupine — he of the enormous black- 

 and-white quills. But everything that Africa 

 mav lack in Rodents is made up many times 

 over in her splendid series of Primates. 

 Fortunate, indeed, is the Zoological Park, or 

 even the museum, that can show representa- 

 tives of all the most important species. 



Orang-L'tans. old and young, from baby- 

 hood to complete adolescence, and sometimes 

 two species together, we have exhibited. 

 Since the erection of the Primates' House, it 

 never has been without its Chimpanzees, and 

 usually several specimens have been visible 

 together. The Long-Haired Chimpanzee from 

 Central Africa is distinctively different from 

 the Bald-Headed species of VVest Africa. 



The group of Baboons contains several spe- 

 cies scarcely less wonderful in form than the 

 great apes. To-day we exhibit a full-grown 

 male Mandrill, in all his panoply of variegated 

 skin colors — scarlet, blue, purple and white. 

 The Gelada Baboon species, which we have 

 shown for several years, is. in a mature 

 state, strongly suggestive of a high-class male 



African lion of miniature size. Among the 

 Baboons, adult males of this species may justly 

 be regarded as the rarest of the rare ; but it 

 has been our good fortune to possess, two. 



The Hamadryas also is highly picturesque, 

 especiall}' on account of his grand side-whisk- 

 ers and hair shoulder-cape of aristocratic gray. 

 The East African Baboon and the Long-Armed 

 Yellow Baboon have bred here successfully, 

 and reared their young. The huge Cliaenia 

 was for several years an inhabitant of the 

 Primates* House, but not long since passed 

 oft' the stage. 



Of the species belonging to the African 

 Genus Cercopithccus, we have had and still 

 retain many species ; but it is out of the 

 question to enumerate them here. 



Of the beautiful and mild-spirited Lemurs, 

 our great lemur cage furnishes a comfortable 

 home for a number of species, the most con- 

 spicuous of which are the black-and-white 

 Ruft'ed Lemur, the Ring-Tailed Lemur, the 

 Black Lemur and the Brown. 



AUSTRALI.\. 



Last to arrive, but by no means last in zoo- 

 logical importance, is the queer procession 

 from Australia. Although zoologically it 

 stands as the lowest of mammals, the first 

 species that comes to mind is the Echidna, two 

 specimens of which delighted and amazed 

 visitors to the Zoological Park throughout 

 twenty months. Even more rare than the 

 Echidna was the Tasnianian Wolf, or Thyla- 

 cine, which we successfully acclimatized and 

 kept for several vears, winter and summer, in 

 one of our large fox-dens. 



The Tasmanian Devil — black, large-headed, 

 fierce-tempered and ugly — is a more frequent 

 visitor, and we know that in the L^nited States 

 there are at this moment eight or nine speci- 

 mens. The Dingo, or Australian \\'ild Dog, 

 breeds readily in captivitv, and is irrepressible. 

 Of Kangaroos our collection contains the 

 Great Cjray Kangaroo, the Red. the Brush- 

 tailed Wallabv. the Rock Wallaby and the Rat 

 Kangaroo. We have diligently sought the 

 Koala and the Wombat; but neither has 

 deis^ned to visit us. 



On the whole, we have every reason to be 

 thankful for the good fortune that has sent to 

 us. during the past ten years, so many rare and 

 interesting species of mammals. With the 

 stress of building construction once ended, 

 at least for the immediate future, it will be a 

 great pleasure to strengthen our collections 

 generally until they reach a point much above 

 their present standards. 



