Photo by B. Garth, F.R.P.S. 
MARMOSET 
quaint belief that the lemurs were night¬ 
wandering ghosts. 
Of the several species usually seen in captivity, 
the charming ring-tailed lemur is the one now 
exhibited in the Monkey House. It has thick, 
soft grey fur, and what can only be described 
as a fox-like face, with a very long and hand¬ 
some black-and-white ringed tail. Fruits, 
insects, birds’ eggs, and the birds themselves 
are sometimes caught and eaten, for lemurs are 
agile animals. 
POTTOS. —The pottos are small thickly- 
furred animals with round heads and small 
ears, but with large saucer-like eyes. The fur 
is mainly brown, with light under parts; the 
body is stout and thick and the tail very short. 
The hands are interesting in that the first 
digit is reduced to a mere stump, but in spite 
of this the potto has such a strong grip that 
natives are often guilty of the horrible practice 
of cutting off the fingers in order to pull the 
animal away from the branch of a tree, to 
which it is usually found clinging with great 
tenacity. Both the hands and feet have nails, 
with the exception of the second toe, which is 
provided with a claw used for cleaning 
the fur, and therefore known as the 
“ toilet digit ! ” Another interesting 
and unusual characteristic of the potto 
is that the tips of several of the 
vertebrae protrude through the skin. 
Four races of the potto are known— 
three from West and one from East 
Africa. The specimen at present in 
the collection was caught in the 
British Cameroons, West Africa. 
Pottos do not make very good zoo 
exhibits, as they usually sleep most of 
the day. Their diet consists of fruits, 
insects, birds’ eggs, and probably 
young birds. 
GALAGOS.— -The maholi galago or 
bush-baby comes from South Africa. 
It is a small, thickly - furred little 
animal measuring about 15 inches in 
length, including the tail, which 
exceeds the total length of the head 
and body together. . The ears are 
interesting in that they can be folded 
up when the animal is not alert. 
Galagos are arboreal in habit and are 
extremely agile, being capable of leap¬ 
ing a distance of several feet. Their 
food consists of insects, birds’ eggs, 
etc. There are many other species of 
galagos from Africa and the islands of 
Zanzibar and Fernando Po. 
Photo by Miss Anne Jackson, F.R.P.S. 
RING-TAILED LEMUR 
Six 
BEARS . . . 
B EARS are widely 
distributed, and are 
found principally in the 
Northern regions of both 
the Old and New Worlds. 
In the former they extend 
southwards as far as the 
Pyrenees, or possibly to 
the Atlas Mountains in 
North Africa; and in 
Asia to Southern India, 
Ceylon, Sumatra and 
Borneo. In America they 
occur from the Arctic 
regions southwards to 
Florida and Mexico, and 
in the Andes from 
Colombia to Bolivia and 
Chile. It will, therefore, 
be seen that bears are not 
indigenous to Australia— 
the so-called koala bear 
being, in fact, a marsupial. 
Photo by Manchester Pictorial News Agency 
KODIAK BEAR “ GOLIATH 
Bears are massively- 
built animals, generally 
excellent climbers, but 
unable to jump more than 
a few inches from the ground. Most species live well in captivity—for instance, ££ Frank,” 
the brown bear, has lived in the gardens for over thirty years (he is now the longest-lived 
of all the animals in the Zoo), while “ Teddy,” his mate arrived in 1923. 
The Kodiak bear arrived in March, 19525 the first of its kind to be exhibited here. These 
wonderful bears are probably the largest bears in the world and come from the com¬ 
paratively small Kodiak Island off the coast of Alaska. It is probably the rarest bear, too, 
for only about 200 specimens are known to exist. 
The polar bears are represented by an adult female ££ Snowball ” and a young male 
££ Thor.” When the two bears were first introduced to each other they had a brief ££ scrap” 
and had to be separated. The process of getting them to live together was a slow one 
but finally they became good friends. Polar bears naturally feed on fish, seals, clams, etc., 
but take kindly to an almost complete change of diet in the Zoo, and eagerly beg for buns 
and biscuits. 
In captivity, bears often 
indulge in some form of 
rhythmical routine, the 
reasons for which are not 
at once apparent. For 
instance, a particular in¬ 
dividual may walk to and 
fro over a certain stretch 
of ground, nodding its 
head from side to side 
as it proceeds and never 
varying the number of 
steps taken; or it may be 
that another bear will 
climb a pole by one 
method and descend by 
another, never reversing 
the method with the 
Photo by T , M. Seddon 
n^s.1 . n nr«n << PMAU/B All »» 
Seven 
