756 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



SUSIE, YOUNG FEMALE CHIMPANZEE, RECENTLY PURCHASED FROM PROF. RICHARD L. GARNER. 



THE COLLECTION OF GREAT APES. 

 By Raymond L. Ditmars. 



We are now proud to exhibit to our visitors, 

 at the Primate House, a particularly fine col- 

 lection of great apes. This collection is made 

 up of four eliimpanzees and five orang-utans. 

 Several of the specimens have been in the Park 

 for a period of over five years, and even the re- 

 cently acquired individuals now are thoroughly 

 acclimatized, and seem destined to live long in 

 captivity. As some of the larger apes have 

 passed through the stage where the first teeth 

 have been shed and the second teeth are rapidly 

 appearing, our records as to the development of 

 these creatures, their increase in weight, change 

 of temj)erament with developing age, and their 

 various maladies, are rapidly becoming more 

 interesting. 



From first to last, a number of fine apes has 

 been exhibited in the Zoological Park. The 

 average period of their life in captivity has been 

 about four years, and the death of the ma- 

 jority of them has been caused by tuberculosis. 

 Among our most interesting examples of the past 

 were the chimpanzees Soko and Polly, repre- 

 senting respectively Anthropopithecus schwehi- 

 furtlii, and A. calvus. The former species may 

 be immediatelj' recognized by the dark skin of 

 the face, which is generously blotched with rusty 

 freckles. Calvus is characterized by the pale 

 skin of the face, a dark H-shaped mark on the 

 forehead and the protruding brows, back of 

 which the hair is quite sparse. 



Another well-known ape was Dohong, an 

 orang-utan. All of the three specimens mentioned 

 above lived for periods exceeding five years, and 

 all succumbed to the same malady, — tubercu- 



losis. These apes were noted for their excep- 

 tional vigor and activity, which undoubtedly ac- 

 counted for tlieir fairly long lives in captivity. 

 Naturally, the ))ower of resistance against the 

 attacks of pathogenic organisms is far sujierior 

 in an active animal over one that is inclined to 

 be sluggish. 



Usually the indisposition preceding the death 

 of an ape was short. There was a sudden lack of 

 vivacity, and the animal's demise quickly fol- 

 lowed. Sadong, Rajah. Brunei, Sultan and 

 Zongo are among the apes that were exhibited 

 for periods of from one to two years. From 

 our care of this number of delicate animals we 

 have derived valuable experience, and the pres- 

 ent aggregation of chimpanzees and orangs is 

 in prime condition. 



Witli our present collection of apes it is our 

 intention to make experiments as to their mental 

 capabilities, along a number of lines and with 

 several purposes in view. We find, in the first 

 place, that a continuous cage life, without diver- 

 sion, is wearing upon these creatures, and that 

 solitude and monotony tends to develop inac- 

 tivity. Secondly, our visitors disjilay a marked 

 interest in demonstrations of a wild animal's 

 mental cajiacitv. We also realize how much is 

 to be done in solving the problems of habits dis- 

 played by mammals of the higher orders. For 

 work along these lines a large room in the 

 Primate House has been fitted with parapher- 

 nalia. Here the apes are taught to do many 

 things, and given opportunities to display the 

 mental traits that are utilized in a series of in- 

 structive performances to be presented out of 

 doors, on a large j)latform, during the summer 

 months. 



