Report on the National Zoological Park 
Sir: [have the honor to submit the following report on the activities 
of the National Zoological Park for the fiscal year ended June 380, 1959: 
EXHIBITS 
Following the plan announced last year, the National Zoological 
Park made good progress this year toward its goal of emphasizing the 
exhibition of North American animals and acquired several species 
native to this continent that had not been seen in the collection for 
many years. 
The most publicized event of the year was the transportation of a 
herd of 14 reindeer and 1 caribou from Kotzebue, north of the Arctic 
Circle, to Washington, D.C. The animals, comprising a gift from the 
new State of Alaska to President Eisenhower, arrived here in time to 
take part in the annual “Pageant of Peace” held at Christmas on the 
Mall. J. Lear Grimmer, Associate Director of the National Zoological 
Park, and Charles Thomas, senior keeper of the large-mammal divi- 
sion, flew to Alaska and took part in the actual capture of the reindeer, 
which came from a herd that is under the management of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior. Without a single loss 
the animals were flown to Anchorage, taken by the Alaska Railroad 
to Seward, shipped by the Alaska Steamship Co.’s SS Jliamna (cap- 
tained by “Blackie” Selig) to Seattle, and then brought across country 
by Consolidated Freightways. They arrived in Washington on Decem- 
ber 11 and were formally presented by Roger Ernst, Assistant Secre- 
tary of the Department of the Interior, to Homer Gruenther, Presiden- 
tial Assistant, representing the Chief Executive and the people of the 
United States. The herd has been established in the Zoo with the 
addition of four fawns. 
Mr. Grimmer also undertook an expedition to British Guiana, under 
the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geo- 
graphic Society. His purpose was to observe hoatzins in their native 
habitat. These strange birds, which somewhat resemble pheasants, 
occur along the northern coast of South America and have never been 
exhibited in any American zoo. His studies have convinced him that 
under proper conditions these birds can be kept in captivity. <A 
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