NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK HOLLISTER. 561 



The African lion {Felis leo) ranks foremost in popular interest. 

 The adult male is a magnificent beast with massive head, a full 

 mane, and a long tufted tail ; he presents a most imposing appear- 

 ance. Lions thrive in captivity and develop much finer manes of 

 softer, more luxuriant hair, on the neck and shoulders than is usual 

 in wild animals. Lions brought from the high and comparatively 

 dry plateaus of East Africa develop much darker coats in the 

 Zoological Park than in a natural state. This is supposed to be 

 due to the more humid atmosphere of Washington. The mane of 

 the lion is not fully developed until the animal has reached a very 

 mature age and the numerous "adult" lions without manes shot 

 by sportsmen prove to be in reality fully grown but immature ani- 

 mals. In the series of over 100 lions preserved in the National 

 Museum the full-sized but maneless males are invariably the younger 

 ones as shown by the condition of the sutures of the skidl and the 

 condition of the teeth. The mane grows much more rapidly in park 

 specimens and appears fully developed at an age when wild lions 

 would still be "maneless." Numerous geographical races of the 

 lion are known, and the range of the animal extends into western 

 India. Within historic times the species was wild in southeastern 

 Europe. 



The tiger, the lion's rival in size, strength, and popular interest, 

 is an inhabitant of Asia, where it ranges through its various forms 

 from southern Siberia to Java and Bali, and westward to Persia. 

 It is absent from the greater part of the highlands of the central 

 parts of the continent but has been killed so far north as Sakhalin 

 Island on the coast and the northern slopes of the Altai in central 

 southern Siberia. It is best known from Korea and Manchuria, 

 the Amoy region of eastern China, Malaya, and India, each region 

 furnishing a special type. The Bengal tiger {Felis tigris) is the 

 best known form in menageries. It has a short coat and is a very 

 inferior animal to the splendid Manchurian tiger of the north {Felis 

 tigris longipilis). The Manchurian tiger is common in parts of 

 Korea where it is usually hunted on the snow in winter. Both the 

 Bengal and Manchurian tigers are represented in the Zoological 

 Park collection of the great cats, and the numerous points of dif- 

 ference between these two forms are readily seen. The most beau- 

 tiful of all the tigers, the Amoy species, has never been shown; al- 

 though skins regularly reach the market, living specimens are rarely 

 obtainable. The same may be said of the very distinct Persian form. 

 The Malay and Sumatra tigers are frequently seen in zoological 

 gardens and specimens of the former lived for many years in the 

 National Zoological Park. 



