CHAPTER VIII. 
ACCLIMATISATION AND BREEDING. 
No fallacy is more widespread than that wild animals have 
to be kept throughout the winter carefully guarded from the 
effects of the low temperature. In Stellingen we keep lions, 
tigers, giraffes, ostriches, and other tropical animals wandering 
freely about in the open, though they always have access to 
cover if they should wish for it. The first thing that put this 
idea into my head was seeing a chimpanzee in England ina 
cold winter in the sixties disporting himself in the snow on 
the roof of a large tent. When he became cold he went in 
and took up a position by the stove. Later on I came across 
a menagerie in Westphalia where the monkeys were also al- 
lowed out of doors in the winter. Here there was an arrange- 
ment for connecting the outer enclosure with the inner cages 
by flaps, so that the creatures could pass at will from one to 
the other. The inner cages were kept at a temperature of 55° 
to 65° F., but the monkeys used to come out even when the 
thermometer was below zero. 
It thus came about that very early in my career I pon- 
dered the question as to how far it was advisable to expose 
to our winter climate animals which came from tropical 
countries. The conclusion at which I arrived was attained 
by careful observation of the animals in my possession. My 
first experiment on the subject, however, was due to an acci- 
dent rather than to any set purpose, and this occurred soon 
after I had been established at Neuer Pferdemarkt. I re- 
ceived one day in September a very beautiful Indian Cyrus 
crane. This we placed in an open enclosure where it re- 
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