ZOO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 125, 19 February 1921, Page 13

ZOO NOTES

A GREAT IMPROVEMENT (By John Crewes. ex-President of the Wellington Zoological Society.) Girls and boys, because you supplied the only gold-mounted fountain-pen that I own, and presented it with a request for me to write more Zoo Notes to be sent to 'The Dominion newspaper, which you read. I try to adapt my notes specially to your requirements. Therefore, they must be simple, clear, scientific., and popular notes, suitable for girls and boys' when they are tired of school work. The first thing that I note to-day then is that a. few days ago. when I . entered the grounds of the Zoo, I saw fastened to the side of the office, which is just, inside the gate of the exhibition, a glass case, in which is a list of the names of the several exhibits offered to view in the Zoo with numbers corresponding to the animals. If you want to find any one of the exhibits then, as soon as you enter the Zoo grounds, look at the list, note the number, and the number will direct you to the numbered domicile of the animal you want to find. Notice also that at the <■ d of the principal list there is a list indicating recent additions to the Zoo. The authors of these guides have merited our congratulations on tho happy development of a good idea. A Welcome Newaborn Beauty. To any person that could not admire tho handsome pen of ring-tailed lemurs that is one of the chief adornments of the Zoo we should tender pity; but to all normal admirers of beauty the latest developmcsit in that charming galaxy must be an ever-growing object of intense and gratifying interest. A few years ago Mr. Castle, the indefatigable secretary of the Wellington Zoological Society, took me with him to sec some monkeys nt Day’s Bay. We then, on behalf of the Zoological Society, arranged to purchase them, that they might be presented to Wellington City Council for the Zoo. Ono of the monkeys had a baby at her breast. But before she was brought to the city she. seein<r a bare possibility to escape, suddenly darted from her cage, and in a minute was over her guardian and up a tree. That monkey carried her baby in her arms. Fortunately the mother was not as foolish as some philosophic philanthropists who profess to see ineffable ecstasies in liberty to starve to death; and she wisely returned with her baby to comparative competency and comfort, in captivity, so that I had opportunities to watch her. The mother monkey carried her baby in her arms, when in a cage or up a tree. At another time the - were marmoses in the Zoo. I once sa . me of them born, and noticed that immediately it climbed, with wonderful agility, on to its mother’s neck. But the marmosets are more social than the monkeys. As soon as the young marmoset puts on weight, father and mother take turns of carrying, for about ■ ten minutes each, and when the young one becomes heavy, and there are other adult marmosets within reach, the genuine socialists do not hesitate to lend a hand, and they handle a baby with consummate dexterity. Now, what I think is the first lemur ever born in Wellington is in the Zoo. Both the father and the mother are very fond of it; but as far as I have seen , the mother has had to do all the carrying. When the fond parents want to hide their charge they get so close together and so intertwine their long and beautiful tails that they succeed remarkably; and when protection seems necessary the father readily assumes either a defensive or an offensive attitude, as circumstances may require. But. the father has not within my notice shared the burden-bearing as the mormosets do. Nor does the lemur handle her baby as beautifully as the marmosets did. On Sunday I saw the young lemur on his mother’s neck, and noticed that as a steeplechaser a marmoset could not excel him; but the little lemur had to climb on his own more than the marmoset had to. A Proud Lioness. “Really,” said Mt. Langridge, the curator of the Zoo to me a, few days ago, “that lioness is the proudest lioness I have ever seen. When there are no people near her place she allows her cubs to lie in quietness. in their bed, but as soon as slip notices a, crowd of visitors gathering, she brings all her babies out to be seen.” "Yes,” I said, "on. the first Sunday after they were born there were several persons assembling, when I. with Dr. Orchard, of Christchurch, walked up to the frotkt of the lion’s yards, and she came to the gate of the inner apartment, and with evident pleasure, by her mouth held up to view a .little cub that was not a week old." I have seen several lionesses, and a good many cubs, .but Maud and her four cubs, for exhibition purposes, Incomparably excel all the. others. Every day now at 3.30 p.m. they exhibit themselves. Another Fine Now Show. A few days, ago when I was at the Zoo I was pleased to see the beautiful penguins that are there. Their plumage is in fine condition, and their colours are beautiful. Three cheers for the Amokura boys, and their splendid officers. .1 say! Even when they are at. sea thev remember our Zoo and work to improve it. Budding Promises. A goodly show, of young pheasants is appearing in several parts of the Zoo. I expect that we shall soon receive some news from our High Commissioner about a. tiger. An elephant also is in the, wind. Where the water-buflalo that the late Councillor Frost told me to expect is I do not know. Air. Foglia has for a long time been expecting Tasmanian tigers and Tasmanian devils, but shipping between Australia and New Zealand is yet a. verv uncertain quantity. My young friends, however, may be assured that the n ellinfrton Zoological Society is ft vicilant and active body, and that the present City Council of Wellington is educationally progressiva. Tho Rev. Dr. Pinfold and the Xoo. The echidna that is now in the Zoo is an animal that every girl, and .boy m New Zealand should see while it is alive. I congratulate Mr. Langridge on the condition in which he. is keeping it. and have been delighted at the confidence v th which tho distinguished animal, which has strong burrowing and nocturnal tendencies. has boldly exhibited Rself. Ihe striking peculiarities of this wonderful animal aonßtraincd the Welington Zoological Society to ask the Rev. nr - ' "i told to prepare and read an essay abm’t “the echidna and tlmjizards in the Zoo. and an interesting treatise and discus io rennlted I will give under the following headuigs a few of the doctor’s ohserl V Dr° n i’infold said: “I. regard I fortunate in having vlß ited °'ir Zoo when i some special specimens (of Imai ds) were there: inasmuch as a gentleman from Ai i tralia. Captain Greenall, who ts tiavei ‘ line round the Dominion with them, imu ■ I’oaned 0 them' to the Zoo. It seems to n o a pity that some intimation of tins 1 act had not expression in the th t a a t km t l "”of Privilege Xis Si’ > V ou h ß^r^<sn^ P we notice what he says viritorß' and some of our permancn guests. T Ua tara. The doctor gives the premier place in his thoughts about l’='"? rdM , AAarn calls the New Zealand lizard, the tuatara or Sphenodon. or. Hatteriu. Punet.itn. I place the tuatara in a position high . all lizards, and outside the oi aei Lacertilia, to which the doctor tellB us that tho lizards belong. What "ver else it is, however, wo may admit that it is the Bole representative of an nnciont trroun of reptiles which flourisled in the ukc of the new red that it is notable’ for ts third or persistent of the &^7hr^e n t^cf ?ep lie ’{or^ r^ed' n-; in many of the Pennine lizards. AV rshould also regard tho. tuatara as a. saered' charge- a paragon of interest-which the neonie’of -New Zealand should, at any cost, unite to eave, from ‘ytjn-etion. Ih doctor further remarked: The tua ’. ra is said to have considerable “ l resemblance to one of the *'}J’^7n/or > nni cal American iguanas: but Ks internal economy. Mr. R. Lyddeker. F.R.S.. tells ur.. as well as its teeth, differ in <7° from that of any true lizards. He affirms that. it. comes in many respects nearer to a, crocodile or a tortoise than it docs to ». lizard." Laos Monitor. Tho. doctor next referred to the la.ee monitor, another very interesting reptile now represented in our Zoo. Sec it and study it. The one we have is. wo were told, about 3 or 4ft. m length Ths Water Dragon. The genus draco, tho doctor told ns, is—remarkable for" the skin of the sides of the prolonged posterior rib. by means of which a parachute is formed which enables these dragons to take rapid swoops from branch to branch. An illustration nf thin wan seen by the doctor in our Zoo. All girls and boys should study the wonderful parachutes which several of the animals now in the Zoo carry. The Bearded Dragon. The bearded dragon, the doctor said. Is one of the frilled lizards. When star;led ' it erects its large frill, opens its mouth. I shows formidable teath. and produces a I loud hissing sound in the throat. A I striking feature of this exhibit, which 1 was duly noted, was the greatness of tho expanse of the frill, which, wo are told.

when fully expanded, measures as much as ten inches across. xjinfnld The blue-tongued lizard, said Di. Pinfold. Is another reptile well worthy of our con alderation. The Geckos. The gecko, the doctor remarked, can, like the tree-frog, leap on .J I ®. n considerable distance, and c-ui ru a smooth wall or ceiling sticking to it by means of the eucker-liko € end of the toes of the runners. Ihe geckos have also, the doctor coi.tuids, power of adapting themselves to tbe’r e vironment, and assuming the colour of the tree on which they happen to be. How these changes of colour take said the doctor, may not be always ent; but in the chameleon, c.g., it is due to a shifting of the colour cells with which the skin -is filled, »ackwarde and forwards, and which are opened and closed to show or conceal the colour within them. The Slow-worm. The slow-worm, which Dr. Pinfold 88'’’’’ in our Zoo, belonged to C a P tain all. The common name of this reptile, we are told, is a misnomer, inasmuch as the interesting creature is. not a worm, but is a true lizard. It is, the doctor contends, "a splendid illustration of the theory of evolution in its “PP 110 ? 11 ,?" 7 the development of life.’ The the snake," the doctor says, is proilded with a series of horizontal plates which play an important part in locomotion. “They,” he Baid, "are not found ini the Blow-worm.” The Skinks (Scineus Officinalis) best illustrate the gradual reduction and disappearance of the limbs, and the transition from a liziard to a snakelike form. The Eumeces, with well-dei eloped legs, and the Acontins, with no legs at all, .are representative genera. Other Valuable and Temporary Exhibits. I have noticed several other temporary exhibits in tho Zoo lately—too numerous to be severally described; but I mention wallabies, 'parakeets, and Maned (? eese that have specially caught my eye. there is also what I think is a bowerbird that has not been labelled, but which I hope will be retained. 1