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THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S GARDENS. 



The most interesting addition to the Society's Gardens during the 

 month of April was a young female Giraffe, purchased from Captain 

 Phillips, who brought her from a spot midway between Zinder and 

 Gummel, near Lake Chad, in Northern Nigeria. She stands about 

 eight feet high at the head, and is believed to be about fourteen months 

 old. On the evidence of its locality this Giraffe has been provisionally 

 referred to the race named Giraffa camelopardalis peralta by Thomas, 

 who based it upon the skull and limb bones, which indicated an animal 

 of exceptional height. Now, one of the most interesting points about 

 our new Giraffe is its striking similarity to the Nubian or Eastern 

 Soudanese form, the typical Giraffe described by Linne ; and, since we 

 know that certain animals, like the Sabre-horned Oryx, range from 

 Senegambia to the Eastern Soudan, it would not be surprising if the 

 same were found to be true of the Giraffe. Moreover, since the speci- 

 men named peralta came from a spot near the junction of the Binue 

 and Niger Rivers, a totally different " station " from the neighbourhood 

 of Lake Chad, it is highly probably that our new Giraffe in not 

 "■peralta''' at all, but a representative of the typical race. The rarity 

 of Giraffes in Nigeria is attested by the fact that in the beginning of 

 1904 the only positive evidence of the existence of these animals in that 

 region of Africa was supplied by the bones above alluded to as described 

 by Mr. Thomas. There are now examples of three distinct races of 

 this most attractive ruminant in the Gardens, namely, Giraffa camelo- 

 pardalis ? peralta', G. c. antiquorum, from Kordofan ; and G. c ivardi, 

 from the Sabi River, South Africa. 



Mention may also be made of a pair of four-horned Antelopes, 

 received in exchange, and of a Huanaco from Punta Arenas, presented 

 by Mr. Moritz Braun and Capt. Crawshay. Four-horned Antelopes do 

 not always deserve their name, the anterior pair of horns being fre- 

 quently absent, as was the case with the example, deposited by His 

 Majesty, which died in the Gardens last year. In the buck of the pair 

 recently received, however, the anterior horns are well developed. The 

 Huanaco is a welcome addition. The Society now possesses a speci- 

 men of each of the two known wild species of Llama, namely, the 

 Vicuna and the Huanaco, and also examples of one of the domestic 

 races, the true Llama. The accession of an Alpaca would complete 

 the series. Several Monkeys have also been received, the most attrac- 

 tive amongst them being a mother and baby Anubis Baboon. 



