THE LENGTH OF ANIMAL LIFE AT 

 THE ZOO 



THE great age attained by the polar bears in captivity 

 at the Zoo twenty-three years in the case of that 

 which died at the end of 1894, and thirty-four in 

 that of its predecessor, lost in 1880 is a creditable 

 result of the experience in animal maintenance acquired 

 since the foundation of the Zoological Society's men- 

 agerie in 1831. It suggests the question whether the 

 records of the Society could throw any light on the 

 unknown but interesting problem of the real dura- 

 tion of wild animal life. By the necessities of the 

 case this is still unknown in the case of the larger 

 animals when free. Conclusions formed from the re- 

 sults of their life in the Zoological Gardens must be 

 modified by their unfavourable site in Regent's Park. 

 As long ago as 1848 Sir Richard Owen, commenting 

 on the death of a male aurochs from inflammation of 

 the lungs, described this disease as the * fatal enemy 

 to exotic animals which have been exposed to the 



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