REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



OF THE 



ZOOLOGICAL PARK 



TO THE BOARD OF MANAGERS. 



E\'EN with a sincere desire to be grateful for the support 

 which has been granted to it, and for the results that have 

 been accomplished, the New York Zoological Society realizes that 

 to-day the Zoological Park is only half complete. The spacious, 

 solid, and elegant character of the improvements demanded by 

 the people of New York renders the progress of upbuilding some- 

 what slower than was originally intended. These conditions, 

 taken in connection with the great increase in the cost of building 

 materials and labor, are accountable for the fact that four and 

 one-half years after the inauguration of the work of development, 

 the Park is still in an unfinished condition. 



A recent inspection of the best zoological gardens of Europe, 

 made last autumn by two representatives of the Society, rather 

 painfully emphasized our lack of accommodations for many 

 groups of animals that are highly desirable. In the Berlin Garden 

 was found the most liberal number of enclosures for animals, not 

 only for groups, but for individuals. As a natural sequence of a 

 great number of places in which to exhibit specimens, the collec- 

 tions of that garden were found to be rich beyond compare. For 

 example, the Crane and Stork House provides 32 enclosures in 

 the open air, and a like number under shelter. For the casso- 

 waries and ostriches there are 26 enclosures. The new Antelope 

 House contains 18 compartments and 18 outdoor yards, and the 

 three houses for wild swine provide 12 enclosures. In the average 

 zoological garden about 20 wire-covered yards with shrubbery, 

 grass, and water are considered sufficient for the pheasants, but in 

 Berlin the new Pheasant Aviary — a plain and simple, but very 

 efifective installation — provides 60 enclosures without, and a like 

 number within. This wealth of accommodations is made possi- 

 ble by a wise subordination of the architectural features of the 

 building. The visitor sees only wire netting, the front of a modest 

 shelter house, the birds, and the shrubbery in which they live. 



The new deer houses, of which there are four, have made it 

 possible for the Berlin Zoological Society to possess and exhibit 



