58 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



a young male Indian rhinoceros, {Rhinoceros unicornis), which is 

 one of the rarest — and also most wonderful — animals to be found 

 in captivity. So far as known there are not more than six or 

 seven of these animals in captivity, and in India the range of the 

 species has been reduced to a small area. Our specimen was cap- 

 tured in Assam, by the soldiers of the ^Maharajah of Xepaul, in 

 the winter of 1907, and was furnished to the Society, at a cost of 

 $6,000, by Mr. Carl Hagenbeck. 



In the autumn the Society had the good fortune to receive as a 

 gift from Mr. Edward H. Harriman a pair of Kodiak bear cubs, 

 (Ursns middcndorffi), which had been captured by natives Qn 

 the eastern side of Kodiak Island. These are the first bears re- 

 ceived by us from Kodiak Island, and they are extremely interest- 

 ing animals. When they arrived both were suffering severel\- 

 from gastritis, but by careful treatment Dr. Blair presently 

 brought them to a state of good health. These cubs are quite 

 different in appearance from the other members of the group 

 of big brown bears of Alaska which we have received from the 

 Alaskan Peninsula, Hudson Lake and Admiralty Island. For 

 the present they are exhibited in the "Nursery" Den. 



Health of the Mammals. — Throughout the year, with but one 

 exception, the general health of the mammals as a whole has 

 been excellent. Only two specially important animals were lost 

 by death during the year — a Suleiman markhor and the largest 

 orang-utan, "Dohong." The exception to the rule of good health 

 took the form of a mild outbreak of distemper, in the canines of 

 the Small-Mammal House, which caused six losses before it was 

 stamped out by Dr. lUair. In the Antelope House, which con- 

 tains about $50,000 worth of animals, the female (irant zebra 

 died, but the other inmates of that building are all in excellent 

 health. The health of the small-eared Congo elephant, which for 

 a considerable period was not satisfactory, has now greatly im- 

 proved, and during the past year "Congo" has gained in weight 

 more than 400 pounds. 



Births during 1907. — In a zoological garden the list of births 

 among the mammals affords a very good index of the general 

 condition of the animals belonging to that class. Our most im- 

 portant item in the birth register is that covering the American 

 bison. ]^>om fourteen cows of breeding age in our herd on Jan- 

 uary 1. i</)7, tivclve calves were born; but of those two were 

 born in Oklahoma, after the Society's gift bison herd had been 

 delivered to the Xational Government, on the Wichita Game 

 Preserve. 



