SOME EUROPEAN ZOOS 



By WILLIAM M. MANN 

 Director, National Zoological Park 



AND 



LUCILE Q. MANN 



The writers, having been given the Franklin Burr Award of the 

 National Geographic Society, decided to devote this money to observa- 

 tion of some of the European Zoos we had not seen before, and of 

 others where we knew that great progress had been made since our 

 last visit to them in 1929. 



On July 23, 1938, we were in Stockholm, Sweden, and went imme- 

 diately to the great Skansen Park, a unique open-air Museum and 

 Zoo. The animal collection was limited entirely to those living in 

 northern Europe, all kept out of doors in naturally wooded paddocks 

 where unusually fine specimens of each species were on exhibition. 

 Outstanding were the European elks, eight of them in the collection, 

 including a mother with twin babies. 



In Moscow we found a large park of 32 hectares, and an enormous 

 collection requiring a Zoo staff of about 500, including a number of 

 scientists and women keepers. The Zoo is 75 years old, and has been 

 greatly developed since 1924. Some two-and-a-half million people 

 visit it each year to see the very splendid collection, mostly northern 

 animals, but many of them of great rarity. The elephant display 

 includes five specimens in a very large enclosure. Among the wild 

 sheep were Ovis poll and fine markhors. 



At Leningrad the Zoo is smaller than that of Moscow and 5 years 

 younger, but contains also a good collection. We were especially 

 interested in a black-cock or capercailye, the first we had ever seen in 

 captivity, which had been kept alive by changing its food each month 

 and giving it what it would find in nature with the changing seasons. 



We were told that there are 26 Zoos in Russia, not including small, 

 temporary Zoos which are established at children's rest camps and 

 contain collections of baby animals for the children to play with. One 

 cage that we saw contained baby lions and dingos together. 



At Copenhagen a new bird house had been completed, and a large 

 tropical house for giraffes was in process of construction. The bird 

 house is especially attractive. Four years ago eight little lovebirds 

 (Agapornis personata) were placed in a cage and there are now 120 



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