NEWS BULLETIN OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



REPORT OF ZOOLOGICAL EXPERTS ON THE_ 

 PLAN OF THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK., 



Some months ago the Director of the Zoological Park re- 

 quested the Executive Committee to submit his preliminary 

 plan of installation to three experienced field naturalists, 

 three zoological garden experts and three landscape gar- 

 deners, for critical examination and report. In compliance 

 with the first part of this proposition, the Society at once 

 sought the advice of Dr. C. Hart Mernam, Chief of the U. 

 S. Biological Survey, (Washington), Dr. Geo. Bird Grin- 

 nell, Editor of Forest and Stream, and Mr. Elwood Hofer, 

 of the Yellowstone Park, official collector of living animals 

 for the National Zoological Park. It would be difficult, if 

 not impossible, to find in this country three gentlemen who 

 by years of close study of our mammals in their haunts, 

 especially in the western United States, where they are 

 most abundant, are more competent to judge of the merits 

 of the plan submitted to them. Each of the gentlemen 

 named went over every portion of the ground, map in hand, 

 weighed the merits of every proposition, and reported in 

 writing. Two of the reports we publish ^herewith, and 

 regret that we have not space for all three. 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 

 BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



Washington, D. C. April 15, 1897. 

 Prof. Henry F. Osborn, 



Chairman Executive Committee, 



New York Zoological Society. 



My dear Professor Osborn .-—In compliance with your request of 



Men-ch 27, lg07, I visited South Bronx Pari?, the site selected for the 



New York Zoological Park, on the 13th inst., and carefully inspected 

 the grounds in company with your Director, Mr. Hornaday, who 

 pointed out to me in detail the places which, in the preliminary plan, 

 are allotted to the various animals. 



Taken as a whole, the ground selected for the Park could hardly 

 be better adapted to the ends in view. I was surprised to find so near 

 New York City a tract combining such natural beauty and rtigged- 

 ness, an abundance of mature forest trees, an unlimited water supply, 

 and sufficient diversity of local conditions to meet the needs of nearly 

 all the animals it is desirable to exhibit in a zoological park. 



It is true that the Park does not contain ideal places for the Big- 

 horn, Mountain Goat, and Prairie Dogs. With respect to the two 

 former, however, it may be said that no ideal locality exists nearer 

 than the higher peaks of the Catskills. But, by supplementing the 

 rock ridges chosen for the Bighorn and Mountain Goat by artificial 

 masses of rock, I think these animals will secure the best conditions 

 that can be afforded them in the neighborhood of New York City. 



With respect to the Prairie Dogs, the only spot in the Park really 

 suited, in my judgment, to the needs of such burrowing animals, is 

 the knoll which on your preliminary plan is surrounded by the four 

 principal houses— the Lion House, Monkey House, Bird House, and 

 Sub-Tropical House. For my part, I see no good reason why these 

 mild-mannered and inoffensive animals could not occupy this promi- 

 nence without in any way interfering with the animal houses to be 

 erected in the immediate vicinity. If they are put elsewhere it will 

 be necessary to cart in a large quantity of soil to give them sufficient 

 depth of earth for their diggings. 



The areas selected for the Bison herd, Antelope, Moose, Caribou, 

 and the various Deer, the ledges for the dens of the Bears, Wolves and 

 Foxes, and the ponds for the Beaver and Muskrat, and so on, seem to 

 me excellently chosen, and well adapted to the -,v :..:■;• of these ani- 

 mal:-., ' .. . Lhey could be improved. 



Near the north entrance of the Park, on the west side of the road. 

 is a picturesque mass of rock partly concealed by junipers. This, in 

 my judgment, is an almost ideal sp«l < : "ies of two of the most 



beautiful and interesting of qui i I tcaUimals. I refer to the Silver- 

 sided Ground Squirrel of California [Spermophilus fisheri), and the 

 Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel of the Cascade Range in Oregon 

 (Spent/ op/a /us chrysodeirus). Both of these animals are diurnal, 

 graceful, and extremely beautiful. They naturally live in loose colo- 



nies, are easily tamed, and would, in my opinion, form one of the 

 most attractive and interesting exhibits it will be possible to make. 



In closing, allow me to express the hope that you and your col- 

 leagues will ever bear in mind that the principal object of a Zoologi- 

 cal Park is to keep living animals as nearly as possible under natural 

 conditions, and at the same time where they may be seen by the pub- 

 lic. This being the case, the aim should always be to give each ani- 

 mal the place best adapted to its habits of life. In some cases the 

 selection of a site must be regarded as experimental, and subject to 

 change. In other cases, certain animals will have to be moved from 

 time to time in order to give them fresh ground. For all these rea- 

 sons it seems obvious that the Park should be left as nearly as possible 

 in a state of nature, and that no attempt at landscape gardening should 

 be tolerated — at least for the first few years — until the requirements of 

 the animals and the requirements of the public have become thor- 

 oughly adjusted. 



I congratulate your Society on having secured so commodious and 

 desirable a site for your new Park, and firmly believe that, under the 

 efficient management of your able Director, it will become the leading 

 zoological park of the world. 



Very truly yours, 



C. HART MERRIAM, 



Chief, Biological Survey. 

 AAA 



FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 



New York, April 24, 1897. 

 Prof. Henry F. Osborn, 



Chairman Executive Committee, 



New York Zoological Society. 



Dear Sir: — In compliance with the request contained in your favor 

 of March 27th, I have examined the plans for the Zoological Park 

 now before the Zoological Society, and in company with the Director 

 have visited the tract of land in Bronx Park allotted to the Society by 

 the city authorities. 



In the letter, referred to you ask me to report especially ( 1 ) as to 

 •th© doeirahilirytof the- ranges selected for the i/rincipal North Ameri- 

 can ruminants,! (2) as to the locality selected for the dens ot tne*oears7 

 wolves and foxes, (3) as to the beaver pond and (4) as to the site 

 selected for squirrels and other gnawing animals. 



As I have before remarked, the land allotted to the Society for its 

 park is singularly well fitted for the purpose to which it is to be de- 

 voted. In topography, in the quantity, character and distribution of 

 the timber on it, in the abundance of its water supply for purposes 

 other than for drinking, and in the great quantity of rock contained 

 within its limits, South Bronx Park seems to contain a combination of 

 the essential requirements of a Zoological Park such as could hardly 

 be matched anywhere. 



The ranges selected for the bison, antelope, elk, deer, moose, cari- 

 bou and mountain sheep are well chosen, and with such modifications 

 as will naturally suggest themselves, the different species named 

 ought to do well. 



I have suggested to the Director that, in view of the considerable 

 range allotted on the plans to the bison, and the habits of the antelope 

 and the bison, it might be practicable to enclose the prong-horned 

 antelope with them for a portion, at least, of the year. It is not likely 

 that for a long time the herd of bison will be very numerous, and I am 

 disposed to think that the antelope might well range with them, since 

 we know that in the old days of buffalo plenty on the plains these 

 two species associated closely with one another, the antelope feeding 

 in the midst of the herds of buffalo, and the buffalo paying no regard 

 to their presence. 



If it should be deemed wise to make this change, the tract* now 

 marked on the plans as antelope range might advantageously be used 

 for a summer range for the tropical ruminants, or some of them whose 

 pens are adjacent to this tract. 



In the cases of several species of the North American ruminants I 

 believe that while the ranges selected for them are excellent they may 

 tly improved by a little artificial work. Such species as the 

 bison, the elk, the mule deer, and, of course, the mountain sheep, fre- 

 quent — when it is possible — rough and broken ground, and are very 

 much disposed to climb up to high points of rocky hills or ledges 

 where they stand or lie and look over the country. I have suggested 

 to the Director that in the ranges assigned to the species named, great 

 piles of large rocks should be erected, which 1 believe these animals 

 would use in this way, and which would undoubtedly contribute 

 greatly to their health and would tend to keep them in good condi- 



