ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



757 



All of our apes have been 

 taught to sit at a table, and 

 dine in quite dignified fash- 

 ion. It takes not more than 

 a week's time to teach an 

 orang or a chimpanzee how 

 to properly manipulate a fork 

 and to handle a cup. The 

 spectacle of a number of apes 

 dining at a round table is in- 

 structive in illustrating some- 

 thing more than mere ani- 

 mal training. These creatures 

 are not mechanically driven 

 through this performance. The 

 dinner party proceeds without 

 cues or orders from the keepers, and the spec- 

 tator realizes that a considerable amount of 

 memory and reasoning power dominates this ex- 

 hibition — rather than the dumb obedience of a 

 trained animal that has been driven through 

 its paces for many weeks, or months. Almost 

 needless to say, these exhibitions are immensely 

 popular with the children. 



With the coming summer, however, we intend 

 to exhibit to our visitors a far more interesting 

 series of demonstrations than the dinner parties 

 of last year. Three wonderful apes are now on 

 exhibition in the Park. These are Baldy and 

 Susie, chimpanzees, and Mimi, a large orang- 

 utan. The writer believes these animals are 

 among the most intelligent apes ever exhib- 

 ited in captivity. As our experiments with 



GREAT APES IN THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 



The entire collection of nine specimens 



is shown in the photograph. 



the individual specimens have 

 been along widely different 

 lines, the possibilities of pre- 

 senting varied exhibitions are 

 great. 



Baldy is an exceptional- 

 ly vigorous chimpanzee, al- 

 ways mentally alert, and has 

 required little teaching to be- 

 come a wonderful animal. 

 Without human suggestion he 

 learned the principle of the 

 lever, and has damaged sec- 

 tions of his front by prying 

 the bars apart with his trapeze 

 rod. He thoroughly under- 

 stands the action of a lock, and can select the 

 proper key for the feed-room closet, from a batch 

 of a dozen or more other keys. When out of his 

 cage he prefers to walk erect. He opens and 

 closes doors, handles various utensils with an 

 apparent knowledge of their use, and will pound 

 on the sides of his cage with emphatic good-fel- 

 lowship as he recognizes — in the crowd of visit- 

 ors — any member of the Zoological Park staff 

 with whom he is personally acquainted. Baldy 

 is now about seven j'ears old. 



Susie was recently added to the collection. 

 She was purchased from Prof. Richard L. Gar- 

 ner, who obtained her in Africa while on a trip 

 during which he was engaged in the study of 

 the habits of the gorilla and the chimpanzee. 

 Susie was captured about 130 miles inland 



