Photo by A. B. Swaby 
AMERICAN BISON “ HERBERT ” 
CATTLE . . . 
COR the first and possibly the last time we are able to exhibit examples of both the 
A American and European bison—the former saved from extinction and the latter 
unhappily rapidly dying out. 
The American bison formerly roamed the vast prairies of North America in herds of 
countless thousands practically unmolested, and providing meat and clothing for the 
Red Indian. With the arrival of settlers from Europe, together with the advent of the 
rifle, the bison were slaughtered at such an insane rate that within a very few years their 
numbers had been greatly reduced. Interested persons became alarmed and caused a 
census to be taken of the surviving animals, revealing that only 3,000 were left. This 
resulted in immediate steps being taken to move selected animals into reserves where 
they could be carefully watched and protected. Gradually the numbers increased again, 
and to-day the American bison can be considered safe for posterity. 
Unfortunately, it is a different story with the European bison for a check made in 1950 
revealed that there were only 121 pure-blooded animals known—all of them in reserves, 
private parks or zoological gardens. A society with its headquarters in the Warsaw Zoo, 
Poland, is trying desperately to save this fine animal from extinction. Like many other 
animals nearing extinction, the European bison was formerly plentiful and ranged over 
Central and Northern Europe. Indiscriminate slaughter by both sporting and com¬ 
mercial interests, as well as the upheaval of two world wars, has resulted in to-day’s 
unhappy state of affairs. 
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EUROPEAN BISON “CZAR” 
Other interesting cattle are the zebus or humped 
Photo by Thos. H. Mason 
cattle of India, which are sacred to the 
Hindus. There are many breeds 
which vary greatly in size and 
colour. 
Exhibited here for the first 
time are the African big-horned 
cattle called Ankole or Watussi 
cattle. These magnificent 
animals were once thought to 
possess the largest horns of all cattle 
but very recent information suggests 
that there is yet another breed in 
Africa with even larger horns. The 
history of the Ankole is very 
interesting, if somewhat obscure. 
Pictures of them occur on the walls 
of ancient tombs in Egypt. There 
is reason to believe that they were 
brought as tributes to the Pharaohs 
of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt 
by the negroid tribes of Nubia 
(Northern Sudan). “ Pockets 55 of 
territory where these cattle are still 
to be found exist in a number of 
places in Africa, the bull and three 
cows to be seen in the Zoo were 
obtained from one of the royal herds 
in the Ankole district of Uganda. 
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