64 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



ZOOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY BULLETIN 



Edited by the Director. 



PnUislted at the Offi.c of tlu Society, // Wall St., New York City. 



Copyright, igos, by the New York Zoological Society. 



No. 8. JANUARY, 1903. 



Subscription price, 50 cents fur four numbers, in advance. 



Single numbers, 15 cents. 



Mailed free to Members. 



©fficcrfi of tl)r §ocirtP. 



prcsiaciu ; 



lUIN. l.i:\l 1'. M)ii.iT(>\. 



((Efccutitie Committee : 



Hkn'UV Faikfield Osbokn, chairman, 

 John S. Barnes, Madison Grant, 



Philip Schuyler, Wii liam White Niles, 



Samuel Thorne, Charles T. Baknev, 



Levi P. Morton, ex-ojfficio. 



(IBcnccal ©fficcts : 



Secretary, Madison Grant, 11 Wall Street, 



Treasurer, Charles T. Barney, 66 Broadway-, 



Director, William T. Hornaday, Zoological Park, 



Director of tlie Aquarium. Chari.es H. Tdunsend, Battery Parr. 



®oarb of .JlianaBCtg : 



EX-O2''FICI0. 

 The Mayor 0/ the City of New York, Hon. Seth Low, 

 The President of the Dep't of Parks. Hon. William R. Wili.cox. 



Claj;* of 1903. Class of 1904. Class of 1903. 



Levi P. Morton. F. Augustus Schenuerhorn, Henry F. lKl,n,„. 



Andrew C.^rneijie, A. NewlioUi Morris. Henry \V. I'oor. 



.Morris K. lesup, Ciiarles I-. Whitehe.id. Ch.irles T. B.iruev. 



John L. Cidwalader, Percy K. Pyne. William C. Church, 



Philip Schuyler. George H. l.rinnell. Li5|ieuar<l Ste«-..rt, 



John S. Barnes. Licob II. SrhilT. Jnsei.li Stickijey. 



Madison Grant. lidwaid I. Herwind. H. C.isiuiir De Rhani. 



William White Niles, \\'illiaui C. Whitney. 



Samuel Thorne, George C. Clark, 



Henry A. C. Taylor, Cleveland H. Dodge, 



Hugh I. Chisholm, C. l.edyard Blair. 



Win. D. Sloane. 



Hugh D. Auchinclo 

 Ch.arles F. Dieteric 

 James J. Hill. 

 George F. Baker. 



RARE WILD HORSES. 



ABOUT twelve years ago a Russian trav- 

 eler, named Prjevalsky, discovered in 

 one of the deserts of Sungaria, Central Asia, 

 between the Altai and Tyan-Shan Mountains, 

 a new species of wild horse, which has since 

 been described and named in honor of its dis- 

 coverer. Amongst wild horses and zebras, 

 it is the nearest approach to the domestic 

 horse of civilization, and supplies an impor- 

 tant link, hitherto missing, in the chain of evo- 

 lution which reaches down from the three- 

 toed horse to the domestic animal of to-day. 

 In appearance, the Central Asian horse 

 (Equus prjcvahkii) is much like the Persian 

 wild ass. Its mane is erect, it has no fore- 

 lock, it has the four leg callosities of the horse, 

 but the upper half of the tail is short-haired, 

 like that of the zebra. At first sight, the 

 upper half of the tail appears to have been 

 clipped six months ago. The body color of 

 the animal is a peculiar yellowish-drab, or 

 mouse-color, and a black stripe extends from 



the shoulders along the median line of the 

 liack. 



The remoteness of the region inhabited by 

 this species rendered its capture a matter of 

 great difficulty and expense. Three years 

 ago, Mr. Hagenbeck received from the Duke 

 of Bedford an order for several specimens, to 

 be purchased, if captured, at $5,000 per pair. 

 On the strength of this order. Air. Hagen- 

 beck felt justified in sending out an expedi- 

 tion to capture a number of specimens of the 

 animal desired. His agents penetrated to 

 the northern border of the Gobi Desert, 

 where they found themselves in the land of 

 the Kirghiz, a tribe noted for its horses and 

 expert horsemanship. Engaging the services 

 of nearly two thousand Kirghiz horsemen, 

 and taking with them fifty brood marcs in 

 foal, the collectors sought the desert home 

 of the wild horse. 



After a series of exciting adventures, Mr. 

 Hagenbeck's agents succeeded in capturing 

 fifty-two young colts of the wild horse spe- 

 cies. These were nourished by the domestic 

 mares that had been taken along for that pur- 

 pose, and after a proper interval the outward 

 march was begun. It took three months for 

 the caravan to reach the Siberian Railway, 

 and depart for Hamburg. During the jour- 

 ney twenty-eight of the wild colts succumbed, 

 and only twenty-four reached Hamburg alive. 

 The expedition was in the field nearly eigh- 

 teen months, and its expense footed up nearly 

 $25,000. The collection reached Hamburg 

 in the summer of the year 1900, and all the 

 animals save one pair were promptly dis- 

 posed of. Twelve are now in the possession 

 of the Duke of Bedford, and others are on 

 exhibition in the zoological gardens of Lon- 

 don, Berlin, Hamburg, and in the possession 

 of private parties in Germany. 



The approaching completion of the Ante- 

 lope House has justified the Zoological So- 

 ciety in acquiring the last pair of animals for 

 sale from the Hagenbeck collection. Their 

 purchase price has been partly raised and 

 partly guaranteed by Professor Henry F. 

 Osborn, Messrs. William C. Whitney, Philip 

 Schuyler and Charles T. Barney. If the ani- 

 mals arrive safely, as expected, they will be 

 exhibited, temporarily, in the corral con- 

 nected with the northeastern corner of the 

 Mule Deer Range, situated on Osborn's Walk, 

 half way between the Bird House and the 

 northwest entrance. 



Unfortunately, even the rarest animals are 

 not immortal, and as usual in all such cases, 

 we advise all persons specially interested 

 to see them as soon as possible after their 

 arrival. 



