ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



825 



Bear Cubs. — We were recently startled to aee 

 our big male grizzly bear walking about with .1 

 newlv-born cub in his mouth, which he had 

 killed. Before we could enter the den to find 

 out if there were additional cubs, the male ap- 

 peared with another, which had also been killed. 

 Our keepers then armed themselves with clubs 

 and entered the sleeping den, where they found 

 a third cub, which the mother bear seemed not at 

 all inclined to protect. We rescued this young- 

 ster and, having no other resource, placed it in 

 charge of a large cat which had several kittens. 

 The cat at first took kindly to the bear, but de- 

 serted it, evidently irritated by its squealing, 

 since a few hours later when we made an in- 

 vestigation, the cat and her kittens had disap- 

 peared. We afterward found her on a high 

 shelf, looking down at the bear with consider- 

 able annoyance. A second attempt was made 

 to introduce the helpless youngster to the foster 

 mother, which was locked in a large box with 

 it. She then assumed the care of the cub. Be- 

 side the attention of its feline guardian, it was 

 fed from a bottle four times a day. It survived 

 only seven days. 



Fighting Deer. — All of the male deer appear 

 to be unusually vicious this winter. Some ten 

 days ago two fallow deer bucks engaged in a 

 duel which resulted in one being fatally wound- 

 ed. Three days later an axis deer was killed; 

 and almost immediately after this, our two mule 

 deer bucks fought through a fence with such 

 persistence that one was stabbed in the breast 

 and died within a few minutes. 



Great Apes. — Like many human beings, our 

 family of great apes, the chimpanzees and 

 orang-utans, have been attacked with the fall 

 and winter visitation of bronchitis. Each mem- 

 ber of this collection has had a touch of illness, 

 but at present they are again in good condition. 

 Keeper Frederick Engelholm has been very 

 faithful, day and night, in caring for his sick 

 charges. 



Playful Goats. — The interior of the Small- 

 Deer House may appear to some of our visitors, 

 more like a boiler shop than an enclosure for 

 hoofed animals. The pandemonium which at 

 times reigns within that structure is created by 

 the several specimens of goats enclosed there 

 for the winter. Among these are two particu- 

 larly fine specimens of the Suleiman markhor, 

 and an exceptionally fine Persian ibex. The 

 great horns of these animals are employed in 

 delivering playful but terrific blows upon the 

 iron partitions of their cages. In consequence, 

 all parts of the cage work enclosing these ani- 

 mals have been reinforced with T-iron bars. 



First Snore. — During the recent snow storm, 

 the outdoor animals hugely enjoyed the return 

 of actual winter conditions. This was particu- 

 larly evident with the musk-ox, which animals 

 sported about in the snow, wallowing in all the 

 deep places. The mountain goats also ap- 

 peared to enjojr the storm, and during the time 

 when the snow was drifting heavily over the 

 roof of their building, they climbed to the high- 

 est point and stood facing the wind. The bears 

 indulged in their usual clownish gambols. Im- 

 mediately after the storm ceased, the bison pre- 

 sented a highly impressive spectacle. They had 

 declined all use of their shelter sheds, and re- 

 mained out during the night in the storm. Their 

 coats were thickly matted with frozen snow, 

 which seemed to magnify their generous pro- 

 portions. 



A small flock of Canada geese had evidently 

 spent the night in their pond, and in resting in 

 the water had turned their heads away from the 

 wind. Their backs and wings were thickly 

 powdered with snow. The trees and shrub- 

 bery of the Park recalled the conditions of a 

 dream picture. Every twig and branch was 

 magnified to eight or ten times its natural size 

 by the snow which fell earlier in the storm, 

 while the temperature was higher. Incidental- 

 ly, some of our evergreens were sadly bent un- 

 der a heavy mantle, and Mr. Merkel's men 

 were busy for hours removing the big snow caps 

 from the more valuable shrubbery. 



New Snow Leopards. — As an illustration of 

 how different is the temper of an animal 

 cramped in a small cage and in constant fear of 

 attack, from one in more commodious quarters, 

 we quote an illustration, involving our new snow 

 leopards. When these animals arrived at the 

 Park in their travelling cages, they were snarl- 

 ing, and making such demonstrations that we 

 were led to believe they were uncommonly 

 vicious. During the work of liberating them in 

 the large central outside cage of the Lion House, 

 we had some difficulty in keeping out of reach 

 of their claws. The contrast between that be- 

 havior and their present disposition is interest- 

 ing. Our keepers now enter the cage of these 

 animals, armed with nothing more than brooms, 

 and the leopards manifest toward them no hos- 

 tility whatever. 



Hardy Felines. — Three species of the larger 

 hard}- felines will occupy outside cages of the 

 Lion House during the winter. These are the 

 snow leopards, the Manchurian leopard and the 

 two very beautiful examples of Siberian tigers, 

 which came to us last year, and are growing 

 rapidly. 



