HIGH COST OF ZOOS

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 49, 21 November 1932, Page 9

HIGH COST OF ZOOS

City’s Problem Not Unique U.S. CITIES PERTURBED Wellington is far from being the only city which is confronted with the task of feeding hundreds, and in some instances thousands, of animals at a time when human beings are going short of food. This aspect has been pointed out very forcibly by Councillor R. Semple on more than one occasion in urging the closing down of the Zoo as an economy measure. An American weekly states in a recent issue: “Many a city is facing the problem, with humans starving in its streets, to find money to keep the Zoo alive. Last week President William B. Cadwallader, of the Philadelphia Zoological Society, addressed to the city council a plain statement of fact. He said :—

“ Tn the city budget for 1933 I have asked that the city council appropriate 100.000 dollars for the maintenance of the Zoological Gardens. If this sum of money cannot be made available it will soon become absolutely necessary to dispose of the animals and close the gardens. . . . You should clearly understand that the closing of the gardens cannot easily be accomplished On account of the depression in the animal market it now appears to be impossible to dispose of the animals; therefore we will be faced with the only alternative, to destroy them. “Tn the Philadelphia Zoo there are some 3000 animals. Its collection of apes, monkeys, gorillas, marmosets, chimpanzees and other simians is famous throughout the world. Though the idea would have seemed natural in China, no one so far has suggested feeding Philadelphia’s Zoo . animals to the unemployed.’ ”