K; NKW York ZooLOC.ICAI, SOCIHTV 



are threatened with extinction. Xo reasonable effort will he 

 spared to show each sjjccies of the larj^jer niannnals under con- 

 ditions of liberal space and surroundin.c[s which will at least 

 suggest its natural haunts, which will promote the comfort and 

 longevity of the captives, and render their contemjilation by 

 \isitors a ])leasure. Next to the manunals, birds and reptiles 

 of Xortli America, the fauna of vSouth America will receive at- 

 tention ; ])Ut the vSociety's collections must of necessity include 

 a sufTicicnt number of the living creatures of the Old World to 

 furnish the student and the general public with good examples 

 of the principal orders, families and sub-families of the higher 

 land vertebrates of the world. 



It follows that, in the formation of the numerous living col- 

 lections which will find homes in the Zoological Park, the first 

 to be gathered will be the representatives of the "great game" 

 animals of North America, — the buffalo, elk, moose, mountain 

 sheep, antelope, black-tailed deer, \'irginia deer, and caribou, 

 — and also the moinitain goat, if it can be induced to survive in 

 this climate. The enclosures planned for these species var\ in 

 area from three to twenty acres each. All will be abundantly 

 provided with shade, water and shelter, and such cliff-dwellers 

 as the mountain sheep will be located on rugged masses of 

 natural rock. It is proposed that the buffalo herd shall contain 

 about !'•") carefully selected animals, living in a "iO-acre range, 

 and be in every way worthy to represent this important species. 



vSpecial efforts will be put forth to form good collections of 

 American bears, of our .small carnivorous animals, — of which 

 the United States possesses a \ery extensive series, — and of 

 our native wolves and foxes. The collection and arrangement 

 of American rodents, both burrowing and arboreal, will, — for 

 perhaps the first time, — do justice to the .splendid series of 

 forms of this order which are native to our country. It is 

 probable that very few persons, outside the ranks of our own 

 mammalogists, are aware that our country possesses the greatest 

 variety of squirrels and marmots to be found in any one coun- 

 try, and that the most beautiful forms are the ones most .seldom 

 seen. 



