NATURAL HISTORY. 



When a bird or a wild animal is killed, that is the end of it. IE photographed, it may still live and it3 educational 



and scientific value is multiplied indefinitely. 



FOUR NEW -APES. 



W. T. HORNADAY. 



Last summer the primates' house in the 

 Zoological Park received a valuable con- 

 signment of apes, baboons and monkeys. 

 They came from Hamburg, in the "Graf 

 Waldersee," from Carl Hagenbeck. There 

 were 3 orang-utans, one chimpanzee, 2 

 drill baboons, 3 lemurs, and one rare Afri- 

 can monkey. A young gorilla that actually 

 reached Hamburg for the Zoological So- 

 ciety, and was to have come in this ship- 

 ment, died 2 days before the vessel sailed ; 

 and the Zoological Park people were great- 

 ly disappointed. This creature was worth 

 $1,500. 



The star attractions of the late arrivals 

 are a full grown female orang-utan and a 

 lively nursing baby. The mother is big, 

 brown, solemn faced, and as plain looking 

 as the laws of Nature ever permit in an 

 orang. She stands 42 inches in height, has 

 a spread of arms 6 feet 2 inches, and her 

 foot is 11^2 inches long. Her teeth have 

 not been brushed since childhood, and the 

 acid fruits of Borneo have stained them to 

 the color of an ancient meerschaum. Her 

 skin is about the color of old mahogany, 

 and her hair is the reddest on record. This 

 specimen and her interesting infant were 

 caught in Borneo 9 months ago, when the 

 latter was a helpless little creature about 3 

 months old. Their capture was effected by 

 cutting down the low tree in which they 

 had taken refuge, and built a nest for the 

 night. Usually orangs that are captured 

 when full grown are so savage and intract- 

 able they resist captivity fiercely, and die 

 in a short time. Sikey, however, has more 

 sense than falls to the portion of the aver- 

 age wild orang. Instead of fighting the in- 

 evitable, she wisely elected to survive, and 

 train up her infant, Dohong, in the way 

 he should go. Although not yet tame and 

 obedient, or ready to do stunts, she realizes 

 that her keepers are her friends, and that 

 even curators are worthy of limited toler- 

 ation. She takes her cups of tea gratefully 

 and her rice and bananas as an Englishman 

 takes his pleasures, sadly. When in doubt, 

 she reaches out a long, hairy arm, and 

 gathers little Dohong to her breast. It is 

 droll to see her reach out magnificent dis- 

 tances and either help the little fellow to 

 climb faster, or haul him up by one arm 

 to the hurricane deck of her sleeping box. 

 He is an obedient chap, and has all the 

 points of a thoroughbred. Beyond doubt, 

 this mother and child will prove of great 

 interest to the thousands of children now 

 visiting the Park. 



The Professor is a male orang-utan about 

 6 years old, and nearly as large as Sikey. 

 He is full of suspicion, and at present 

 elects to be friendly with no one. Occa- 

 sionally his manner becomes truculent, and 

 he threatens to bite his keeper. Eventually, 

 however, he will calm down, and act prop- 

 erly. 



The chimpanzee is a black haired, pink 

 faced infant about 18 inches high, and her 

 name is Polly. Coming across the Atlantic 

 3 of the apes caught severe colds, and ar- 

 rived coughing. Already, however, the 

 mild and even temperature of the primates' 

 house has had a marked effect on the ani- 

 mals, their coughing has ceased altogether, 

 and they show general improvement. Being 

 closely confined, the trip was tiresome to 

 the large orang-utans, and they greatly en- 

 joy the freedom of the big cages in which 

 they now live. 



A few days later 5 sea lions arrived from 

 Santa Barbara, California, and were set 

 free in the sea lion pool, near the reptile 

 house. The most interesting specimen of 

 the lot is a squalling baby about 20 inches 

 long, which was born on the dock at Santa 

 Barbara. The little barbarian, or, to be 

 more exact, Santa Barbarian, has fared 

 well, and is fat and lusty. Moreover, it has 

 plenty of stamina, and at times rules its 

 mother despotically. 



The Park is now well stocked with wild 

 babies, of at least 25 different kinds. 



Sikey has since died of tuberculosis. 



THE SEA OTTER OF WASHINGTON. 



CHARLES M'lNTYRF. 



The sea otter of the Northern Pacific is 

 fast becoming extinct. Twenty years ago 

 many hunters, scattered along 100 miles of 

 coast, lived entirely on the income derived 

 from the sale of otter skins. The shore 

 country was then practically uninhabited 

 save by Indians ; to-day it contains many 

 cities and towns. In all Western Wash- 

 ington there is no good timber or agricul- 

 tural land unclaimed, save in the Indian 

 reservations which are being gradually 

 opened for settlement. 



The destruction of the otter on that 

 coast began about 50 years ago, when Ed 

 Huggins, an old Hudson's bay fur dealer, 

 came into the region to trade with the In- 

 dians, giving them flintlock muskets in ex- 

 change for furs. He also bought for cash 

 from the few white hunters in the country. 



In those days otters were comparatively 

 unwary, and were shot with muzzle loading 

 rifles at 50 to 100 yards. A hunter would 

 kill 5 to 20 in a season, leaving the coast 



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