ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



cub, born early in the year 1899. It was pre- 

 sented to the Park on October 13. 1899. by 

 Messrs. W. VV. and J. Barron Niles. Tins ani- 

 mal is a very good representative of the Alaskan 

 brown bears and weighs about seven hundred 

 pounds. The other bear arrived a day later- 

 October 1 k It is a grizzly bear from Colorado. 

 born early in 1899 and is the gift of The Engi- 

 neers' Club, of New York City, through Mr. 

 Arthur C. Humbert. 



There is but a single specimen in the Reptile 

 House that has survived since the Park's open- 

 ing day. This is an American alligator pre- 

 sented to the writer by Mr. Charles R. Knight 

 in the summer of 189k When the Reptile 

 House was opened this specimen was less than 

 two feet long. It is now eight feet long, and 

 weighs about one hundred and seventy-five 

 pounds. 



No specimen of the bird collection has sur- 

 vived the Park's opening day. although there 

 is a Griffon vulture living in the collection that 

 has been on exhibition nearly seventeen years. 

 and several of our pelicans have been with us 

 for a period slightly over sixteen years. 



Veteran members of the mammal collection 

 have been on exhibition for the following peri- 

 ods: Alaskan brown bear, "Admiral." seven- 

 teen years ; Russian brown bear, seventeen 

 years; red deer, one specimen eighteen years, 

 two specimens, sixteen years ; Indian sambar 

 deer, fifteen years; Florida deer, fifteen years; 

 Addax antelope, fifteen years; white-tailed 

 gnu, fifteen years; alpaca, fifteen years; Indian 

 antelope, fourteen years; mouHon. fourteen 

 years; American bison (born here), fourteen 

 years; Malayan sambar deer, fourteen years; 

 Himalayan tahr, thirteen years; Mongolian 

 wild horse, thirteen years; alpaca, thirteen 

 years; Eld's deer, thirteen years. 



A considerable number of animals now on 

 exhibition have lived in the Park for twelve 

 years. 



Veterans of the Reptile House that have ar- 

 rived since (he opening of the Park are about 

 equally divided among the various orders. We 

 have specimens of the giant Galapagos tortoise 

 that have been on exhibition twelve years. Our 

 big python has been on exhibition ten years, 

 and the Indian cobras the same length of time. 

 An alligator that was hatched in the Reptile 

 House on October HO. 1900, and then weighed 

 one and three-eighth ounces, and was eight inch- 

 es long, is now eight feet three inches long 

 and weighs slightly over two hundred pounds. 



The biographies of some of our veteran speci- 

 mens form valuable records. A very complete 



card catalogue is steadily kept up to date in the 

 Department of Mammals. Many of the cards 

 are closely written with notes relating to ob- 

 servations of increase of weight, change of color, 

 habits and phases of illness. Collectively, these 

 cards would furnish the material for an inter- 

 esting memoir on the development and longev- 

 ity of mammals. As an example it may be noted 

 that the card relating to the Alaskan brown 

 bear on exhibition since the Park opened, shows 

 the following: 



"This bear was born in February, 1899. When 

 nine months old. it weighed ninety pounds and 

 was very different in coloration from an adult 

 of the species. It was of the same dark hue 

 as a grizzly cub and from this color gradually 

 changed to a distinct tan. This color then slow- 

 ly darkened until at three years of age this bear 

 ceased to grow (at about seven hundred pounds 

 weight), and exhibited the dark brown pelage 

 characteristic of the Alaskan bears." 



There are about a dozen spectacular veterans 

 in the bear collection that arrived here as play- 

 ful cubs and have attained huge proportions. 

 One of these is Ivan, our largest Alaskan brown 

 bear, which now weighs approximately eleven 

 hundred pounds and standing upon his hind 

 feet can reach upward to a height of over nine 

 feet. He is probably the largest captive bear 

 anywhere on exhibition and his prime condition 

 and happy demeanor would indicate that he will 

 survive many years. The writer also well re- 

 members the arrival of our Syrian bear, also in 

 flourishing condition at this date. She came into 

 the Park on a crowded Sunday afternoon, whin- 

 ing hungrily from the depths of a fragile box 

 which was ordinarily used in shipping a few 

 dozen oranges. As the Huffy little creature was 

 nervous at a touch of one's hand, we carried 

 her crouching within a derby hat to the Bear 

 Dens, and then found she was so small she could 

 crawl beneath the bottom panel of the iron 

 work — through a space provided for the feeding 

 of the bears. This opening was covered with a 

 wooden strip and the tiny creature soon out- 

 grew the possibility of squeezing through the 

 aperture. This bear arrived in May of 1901. 



Our oldest deer — a female elk or American 

 wapiti, shows an interesting record. During 

 the nineteen years this animal has been on ex- 

 hibition in the Park, she has reared seventeen 

 young. She has. in fact, given birth to a per- 

 fect fawn every year since her arrival, with 

 the exception of the year she arrived and the 

 vear 1913. when she suffered from acute rheu- 

 matism. 



