62 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



The opening- of the Concourse Entrance, for carriages and 

 automobiles, has created a new stream of incoming visitors, and 

 greatly facihtated the visits of members of the Society. 



DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALS 

 William T. Hornaday, Curator; Raymond L. Ditmars, Assistant Curator. 



The close of the year 1909 found us in possession of a num- 

 ber of new and valuable species that never before could be ob- 

 tained, and also embarrassed by the presence of an overstock of 

 hoofed animals born in the Park and yet unsold. The overstock 

 of bears is so serious as to demand the immediate construction 

 of a series of ten overflow dens. 



The accessions of the year embraced some notable species. 

 The first to arrive was a yearling cub Alaskan Brown Bear, from 

 the Kobuk River, Alaska, 250 miles northeast of Nome, and only 

 300 miles south of Point Barrow. The well-authenticated local- 

 ity of this specimen clearly establishes the once-disputed propo- 

 sition that the Alaskan Brown Bear group extends not only up 

 to the Yukon River, but also far bej^ond it. The specimen now 

 in our bear collection is very large for its age, and is rapidly 

 growing, but as yet its specific identity can not be positively 

 determined. Naturally, its development is being observed with 

 keen interest. It is a gift from Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge. 



After ten years of continuous efforts to obtain a bear of 

 any species from South America, at last a specimen has been 

 secured. From the Andes of southern Colombia there came to 

 us, after devious wanderings into obscure paths, a young- Andean 

 black bear, rather nearly related to the elusive spectacled bear 

 of the Andes. Specifically it is to be known as Ursus majori, of 

 Oldfield Thomas. In appearance, it resembles a North Amer- 

 ican black bear with a highly-arched back, very short ears set 

 widely apart, and a whitish patch between the lower jaws. This 

 interesting animal is at present quartered in the Small-Mammal 

 House, pending the building of a series of emergency bear-dens 

 that really must be provided in 1910. 



Although we began the year with a very strong collection 

 of African hoofed animals, and an x^ntelope House that was full 

 to overflowing, certain opportunities for the first acquisition of 

 rare species were too good to be lost. We received a beautiful 

 half-grown sable antelope, (Hippotragus niger) , as a gift from 

 Miss Jean Walker Simpson. By many persons this is regarded 

 as the handsomest of all the many species of African antelopes. 



