24 A HAND-BOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 



Food. — These monkeys a?e almost omnivorous. Boiled rice, soaked 

 gram, biscuits, pumpkin, cucumber, brinjal and other vegetables con- 

 stitute their ordinary food. Eggs are occasionally added to their diet as 

 substitutes for the insects and spiders which, in their wild state, they 

 eat besides fruits and vegetables. The cost of feeding an adult monkey 

 is from Rs. 2 to Rs. 2-8 a month. Minced meat is sometimes, but rarely, 

 given them. 



Breeding. — The Rhesus and the long-tailed Macaque have bred and 

 interbred in this garden. The period of gestation is between six and 

 seven months, Female monkeys nurse their young with great tender- 

 ness, and are competent to protect them from harm; the older animals 

 do not molest the young, so that the latter have been reared in the 

 midst of a number, but it is always better, as elsewhere remarked, to 

 segregate the female when a birth is expected. A shy and nervous 

 animal while nursing its young is often averse to coming down for food 

 from its retreat, and unless the keeper is intelligent and watchful she 

 has to depend upon the stray bits left uneaten by others and runs the 

 danger of slow starvation. An aggressive creature in a similar condi- 

 tion, on the other hand, provokes quarrels, and is liable to suffer accord- 

 ingly. On one occasion a Rhesus with a young one was so severely 

 injured in the throat, in foraging for food, that it was with some diffi- 

 culty removed and cured. 



The young monkey after birth attaches itself to its mother, and will 

 not leave her for nearly a month, the mother nursing the young all the 

 time with the utmost solicitude ; after this time it will make little 

 excursions on its own account, but is careful not to stray far, and at the 

 slightest sound or movement it seeks refuge with her. The mother is 

 unremitting in her vigilance over her offspring and in her attention 

 to its personal wants and appearance. Compared with an orang-outang 

 of the same age, a monkey is more helpful and intelligent, and in fact 

 all its instincts are strongly developed at a comparatively early age. 

 In about a month the young one begins to pick up gram and other food, 

 and then the struggle for life soon begins, and the mother and the 

 young one commence to fight over their food, although their natural 

 instincts bind them to each other at other times. 



Transport. — A travelling cage 5 feet 6 inches long, 3 feet broad, 

 and about 2 feet 6 inches high, will comfortably accommodate 10 

 to 15 young monkeys for transmission either by rail or by ship. The 

 cage should be made of deal or jarul (Lagorstrcemia regina) planks, 

 teak being needlessly expensive. Upright battens placed at an interval 

 of an inch and a half should form the front and the upper one-third of 

 the back and sides, the lower two- thirds being made of planks. There 

 must be a shelf for the animals to sit or lie upon, fixed in such a way as 

 to allow of its being drawn out for cleaning ; a tray at the bottom is 

 also required. The vessel containing the drinking water should be placed 

 above the level of the shelf, and in such a manner that its contents may 

 not become dirty. Asa precaution against cold or bad weather, a good 

 canvas screen for the front and plank shutters for the battened portion 

 of the back and sides should be provided. An iron scraper, some saw- 

 dust, a few bundles of straw, and the necessary food, would complete the 

 equipment. A more common kind of cage, but of the same style, is 



