Report on the National Zoological Park 
Sm: I have the honor to submit the following report on the activities 
of the National Zoological Park for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1958. 
EXHIBITS 
A complete animal exhibit is one in which the animals are kept in 
secure surroundings that satisfy the requirements of the animal, is 
esthetically pleasing to the public, and contributes to an increased 
knowledge of the animals and their behavior. This is the goal of the 
National Zoological Park. 
During the year the collection has been balanced and adjusted. 
Progress is bemg made toward exhibiting more North American 
fauna, while not neglecting the display of exotic species. 
The year’s most important zoological event at the Park and perhaps 
in any zoo in the United States was the conception and birth on May 18, 
1958, of a snow-leopard kitten. Never before has there been a birth of 
this rare and beautiful leopard in the Western Hemisphere, and the 
records indicate that only five kindlings are known in the worldwide 
history of zoos. So far as can be ascertained, there have been only two 
kittens successfully reared. The kitten, a female, was abandoned by its 
mother after 24 hours and has been hand-reared by Zoo personnel. 
The first six weeks of its life were extremely critical, requiring almost 
constant attention. After a great deal of uncertainty and suspense, it 
is now apparently healthily established and vigorously growing. 
A new program was instituted for training the elephants. A pro- 
fessional elephant man, Roger MacDonald, was hired as a keeper, and 
he has been teaching the two 10-year-old Indian elephants, Ashoka 
and Shanti, and the two little elephants, Nancy, an African, and Dixie, 
an Asiatic, to obey commands. The ends of the tusks of Ashoka, the 
male Indian, were growing so close together that it was beginning to 
be difficult for him to raise his trunk or feed himself. Rather than 
saw off the tusks, Mr. MacDonald fashioned a set of braces which are 
correcting the defect. 
The Siberian crane, Grus leucogeranus, celebrated its 52d birthday 
in the Park shortly before the close of the fiscal year. As far as is 
known, this constitutes a longevity record for cranes in captivity. The 
rare female Mongolian wild horse has also achieved a longevity record 
for its species of 32 years. 
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