IDEAS AND DEVELOPMENTS. EDUCATING THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 92, 20 April 1911, Page 7

IDEAS AND DEVELOPMENTS. EDUCATING THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

AN INTERVIEW. , "Modern thought with regard to animaLs has undergone tremendous changes of lafce years, said Mr. A. S. Le Sqeaf to a Post reporter to-day. For eight years previous to 1903 Mr. Le Soenf was assistant director and accountant at tie Melbourne Zoological Gardens, and for seven months he was Sengaged in" helping to build the Zooiogical Gardens for Western. Australia, of wMch. his brother ie director. "T have made a special study of the zoos of the world/ Mt. Le Soaaf added, |"and one result of that t-rip was the idißcowiry thai modem thought towarte animals has changed tremendously of Jate years. "We are bow treating ajnWU -not as mere orders and sub-orders and species, bat as 'beings with feelings and ideas of their own. It is recognised 'that animals ar& merely beings on a lower plane than humans, with feelings and thoughts on a proportionately lower scale. The result is that animals are as far as passible being treated with the utmost consideration for theii comfort and health, instead of their I foeing caged simply for the amusement of the public. CLEVER ANIMALS. "We find that animals in captivity exhibit characteristics of which they (were- formerly thought quite iacapablo — some of them apprctrimafcmg very closely to those fotod in human beiigs." Interesting notes have been obtained of instsuices off kindliness and an ability to assimilate ideas. For instance, there ,was in the Sydney Zoo a chimpanzee — the highest form <S»f ape — which showed : ithe utmost intelligence in discovering (ways to get out of its cage. The carpenter tangbb it to drive in screws and take fclem oat. Shortly afterwards the carpenber had to fix some ventilators in the cage, and the chimpanzee etole and sfcix&ed has screw-driver, took all the screws out of the ventQaioxs, and effected his escape. His cage was protected with heavy plate-glass windows, too thick for him to break with his fist. He found, however, that by Bwingifig himself from a tree in the centre of the cage and letting himself go with a tremendous bang against the glass with his back, he cooH break the windows, and he escaped for the second time. The .windows were then covered with heavy (wire-netting fixed in strong iron frames. By accident the animal got hold of a prece of iron, with the aid of which he broke away the wood-work which fastened' the icon frame to the window, amd, by the aid of his ertonnoue strength-, he soon had the wice frame out. After that he broke the window by swinging against it, aaad was again at liberty. His next feat was to secure a nail with which he untwisted the edge of the wire frame-work, and then i tore ihe whole thing away. He also j showed great ifffeeffigence by the way ' he stopped his hammock from swinging. He got a piece of wire amd fastened it to one side of the hammock aaad th© af&er end to, a cleat in the floor; thus the hammock was made stationary. "There was also at the Zoo a very powerful baboon, wltich was put into a strong brick and iron cage. With the aid of a ztaO. the baboon worked a-Tway the cement between, the bricks and pulled some of ihe bricks out. He was found out just in time to prevent jhim escaping." NOTABLE ZOOS. Practically every city of importance ihas a Zoo, continued Mr. Le Soeuf. A very interesting one is that at Cairo, \ which devotes itself entirely to African animals, and in which one can see at a glance the enormous variety of fauna of that continent. Stockholm is devoted to Arctic animals, and you can see j them disporting themselves throughout the year with scarcely any cover or shelter, even in the severest weather. It is found now that, generally speaking, the less shelter animals get the more healthy they are, and even such tropical animals as lions, tigers, kangaroos, ostriches, and so on, can be seen at some of the gardens in Europe disporting themselves m the snow. The <Bld idea of close caging and coddling produced weak constitutions and liability to disease, but the open-air treatment, with dry sleeping quarters, results in healthy constitutions and the power to resist disease. HAGENBECK'S ZOO. The most revolutionary Zoo, in Mr. Le Soeuf's opinion, is that of Mr. Carl Hagenbecks, at Hamburg. His endeavour is, as far as possible, to dissociate the mind of the animal from the idea of captivity, and they are enclosed without any sign of iron doors or bricks or mortar. Surrounding the enclosure in which are the wildest carnivora are natural-looking walls, just too deep for the animals to climb, and in front is an ingeniously-concealed trench, which effectually bars the animals' exit. It is on this system that Zoos will have to be conducted in future. The finest Zoo in ihe world, from the point of view of

costliness, said Mr. Le Soeuf, is that at New York. It was established and is run by the municipal authorities, -who have spent half a million pounds sterling in eleven years ir> developing it. The result is a series of magnificent buildings— the lion house,' of brick and marble, cost £4000— but from the point of view of the animals, it is likely that they would be more pleased with the open-air system in vogue at Hagenbeck's. Mr. Le Soeuf considers that the special value of a Zoo as an influence in educating the general public is in the opportunity it allows people to observe ■the characteristics possessed by each animal. He will remain in New Zealand until about the end of bne month.