THE BABIRUSA HOG 175 



figured the babirusa with red eyes and a brown 

 hide an effort of the imagination, surely! and 

 amusingly depicted the tusks as curled moustache- 

 fashion a la militaire. The first living babirusa in 

 England was presented to the London Zoo 

 in 1839 by Captain Belcher, R.N. A comical 

 figure of a young babirusa has been figured in one of 

 the natural histories, the animal being shown reared up 

 over the edge of its sty, like a parson in a pulpit. In 

 captivity the babirusa soon becomes tame ; a pair 

 presented to the Zoo by the Duke of Bedford, on 

 July 3, 1897, lived some years in the collection, and 

 the female still (1907) survives. This pair were kept 

 entirely in an unwarmed sty, summer and winter, 

 though with plenty of good bedding ; thus demon- 

 strating that animals brought from countries under 

 the Equator can completely adapt themselves to 

 the rigours of the English climate. To the writer 

 they were of exceptional interest, since they were 

 the first mammals ever photographed by him. 



Remarkable for its extremely limited distribution, 

 the babirusa occurs only in the East Indies, on the 

 little known islands of Celebes and Limbe; those on 

 Boru are supposed to have been introduced from 

 Celebes by man. 1 Several other mammals occur 

 only on Celebes : the black "ape" for example, and 

 the curious anoa, half buffalo half antelope. These 



1. A specimen which Forsten brought over from Boru many years ago 

 is preserved in alcohol in the Leyden Museum. 



