REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK 
ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 
The first year of the actual existence of a Zoological Park, or 
Garden, is necessarily its year of severest trial. The actual test 
of new and previously untried accommodations for animals is, 
to those who plan and erect them, inevitably a source of great 
anxiety. There is always to be dreaded the discovery of new 
and unexpected physical conditions which will nullify the most 
anxious forethought, and thwart the most lavish expenditure. 
The first year’s work of the curators and keepers of animals 
was a continuous effort on their part to adjust themselves to 
their positions, and their animals to their strange environment. 
Of the animals themselves, the great majority have been recent 
captures, bearing visible marks of traps and forcible subjuga- 
tion. It is well understood among animal dealers that of all 
newly captured or newly imported animals, a heavy percentage 
die during their first year. The term “acclimated” is now in 
general use to distinguish those individuals which have settled 
down in captivity, and seem willing to act rationally in the very 
important matters of eating, drinking, and exercising. 
Next in the catalogue of the initial year’s anxieties stands the 
adjustment of the Zoological Park to the needs of the public. 
The members of the Society were fully aware of the fact that 
the Park was opened to the public long before the comfort of 
visitors was adequately provided for. But the public desired to 
enter and observe the progress of improvements, regardless of the 
lack of restaurants, shelter pavilions, and other provisions for 
comfort, and, therefore, the gates were opened. Although the 
Society and the Park Department did everything possible to pro- 
mote the comfort of visitors, the things undone were a constant 
cause of regret. 
But the public has accepted the situation with a degree of 
