NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 37 



animals, and have been in good health ever since their 

 arrival. Their food consists of clover hay, broken forage- 

 biscuits, an assortment of raw vegetables carefully cut into 

 small pieces, a small quantity of bran, and rock salt. 



A study of the Giraffes reveals most interesting con- 

 ditions. According to the point of view, the total number 

 of species and subspecies may be reckoned at any number 

 from three to six, inclusive. According to the specimens in 

 hand, the Southern, or Two-Horned Giraffe, (Giraffa capen- 

 sis), seems clearly defined from the Northern, or Three- 

 Horned Giraffe, (G. camelopardalis). Next, the Somali Gi- 

 raffe, (G. reticulata), of the Lake Rudolph region and north- 

 ern British East Africa, seems fairly separable. At first 

 the Five-Horned Giraffe, of western Uganda, seemed quite 

 distinct, but now British naturalists hesitate about accord- 

 ing to it rank as a separate species, because of its inter- 

 gradation with the Nubian form, (camelopardalis) . 



Judging from all evidence now available, it seems that 

 the Giraffes of to-day represent the midway stage of an 

 effort to develop several species from the parent stock, 

 the Three-Horned Giraffe, which is the species here rep- 

 resented. The existing forms, including all species and sub- 

 species, intergrade and run together in a manner that is 

 fairly bewildering ; but if the Giraffes could remain un- 

 influenced by man for a sufficiently long period the prob- 

 abilities are that the species now branching off would be 

 clearly established. 



The oldest, the best-known and the most common Giraffe 

 is the three-horned species, found from central Uganda 

 southward. The five-horned variety meets the former in 

 Uganda, and occurs from that region westward to the edge 

 of the great equatorial forest, and on westward even to 

 Lake Tchad, and the lower Niger Valley. Excepting in 

 Uganda, Kahma's country, and a few other protected dis- 

 tricts, the Giraffe is now rare, particularly throughout the 

 regions that are accessible to hunters. Thousands of these 

 wonderful creatures have been killed by hunters, both 

 white and black, solelj' for the sake of seeing them dead, 

 and leaving them as prey to the hyaenas and hunting-dogs. 

 It seems to be beyond the power of most men who can 

 shoot to see living wild animals, no matter how large or 

 wonderful, without desiring to reduce them to carcasses, 

 fit only for scavengers. 



