ZOO CARRIES ON

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 85, 4 January 1941, Page 2

ZOO CARRIES ON

Animals In London

AIR-RAID PRECAUTIONS LONDON, December 1. The London Zoo is carrying on, in spite of bombs which have damaged buildings but fortunately produced no casualties. Much glass has been broken the impact of unexploded' bombs. of war, since it was felt that, if rell’ a time bomb fdlls in the zoo the inhabitants cannot be evacuated; yet they must continue to be fed and looked after. Luckily, the two time bombs that fell In the gardens without exploding were both small and. the animals’ routine could continue. There is the obvious danger of savage animals escaping after their cages have ■been damaged by a bomb. Luckily, the great majority of zoo animals are not savage and could be easily dealt with by the zoo’s special Air Raid Precautions staff. A crane escaped into Regent’s Park when its enclosure was damaged by a high-explosive bomb, but was recaptured by the offer of food after a few clays; and a zebra which was liberated by a direct hit on the zebra house was rounded up without much difficulty.

Experienced keepers eau manage to recapture most animals; but if a brown bear.'say, or a chimpanzee, or a large antelojie were to be liberated and to prove difficult, there are rilles and scatter-guns which could' be brought into play as a last resort. There remain the really dangerous animals. Of these, the poisonous snakes and spiders were all destroyed within a few hours of the declaration of war, since it. was felt that ,lf released, they might elude capture. The only others iu this category are the larger cats and the polar bears. All the dangerous larger cats have been placed in the lion house, , and every night are shut up in the inner sleeping dens. These are so situated that it would take two bombs to release an inmate —one to break open the den and a second to break the bars of either the outdoor or the indoor cage. Tlie odds against such s double event are so great that its possibility can be safely disregarded. The polar bears (whom the keepers almost unanimously regard as the most alarming inmates of the zoo) are each night shut in the underground tunnel behind their terrace, from which escape would appear to be impossible.