DRAGONS MANICURED

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 111, 3 February 1934, Page 18

DRAGONS MANICURED

Claws That Were Too Long An unusual operation was carried out at tlie London Zoo recently when | tSumba and Sumbawa, the rare KoI niodo dragons, had to be "manicured.” j For some weeks these two 7ft. lizards I have been worried by their claws, I which were, growing so long that they j impeded their movements, and often ' caused them to lose their fooling when scrambling over the rockwork iu their den. Accordingly the head keeper of the reptile house decided that his valuable charges ought to be manicured, and. arming himself with a pair of extra | strong and sharp scissors, he entered Hie dragons’ home. j Tlie female, Sunibawa, who is- extremely tame, seemed to take a truly feminine pride in having her nails trimmed, for she stood quietly while the keeper lifted each of her feet in turn and cut off about 3in. of surplus claw. But Sum'ba considered it an outrage to make a dragon undergo beauty treatment, and as he proceeded Io resist he had to submit to further indignities. i lie was blindfolded by means of a leather hood to prevent him from enap;>iug at his manicurist, and then one keeper grasped his fail and a second held bis body, while a third did the cutting. However, when it was all over. Sum Ici bore the men no malice, and lie quite obviously felt more comfortable.