INMATES OF THE ZOO

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 130, 1 June 1917, Page 6

INMATES OF THE ZOO

'CURATOR REPLIES TO QUESTIONS.

Three of the questions dealt with in accordance with notice of motion by Councillor J. 'Castle at the meeting of the City Council last evening were: —

1. "What has become of all the beautiful penguins that were recently placed in the Zoo?"

2. "Why i& it that so many penguins have died in our Zoo, although penguins seem to be very hard birds, that.thrive in other Zoos, and; breed even in the London Zoo?"

3. "Can nothing be done to improve the condition of the red deer that were placed in the Zoo a few months ago?" The Curator at the Zoo reported as follows regarding the penguins t "The penguins in question did not arrive in an excellent condition. They arrived in the latter part o£ December, and died within a few days of each other, the last dying on Bth February. Th«.y were given every attention^ but they did not seem to get in good condition, although they were feeding well. I held a, post-mortem, but could not discover anything that would cause death, so 1 came to the conclusion that they died through the excessive heat. "The penguins which are hardy and thrive and breed in other Zoos are the Cape '-»nd Blackfooted penguins that inhabit South Africa. The Blackfooted have bred in France and in the London Zoo. I have never heard of the Slater's Crested or King penguins breeding in any Zoo. These are Antarctic species. I have kept the Slater's Crested for nearly three years, and the King penguin over two years." . As to the faird query, the Curator reported:— "The red deer in question are all in a healthy condition. If it is the wet^ ground that Councillor Castle is complaining about, you cannot avoid that. The reason is that the deer trample it up with their feet, and dig- it up with their antlers, and then roll in it. This, is done in their wild state." The questions and explanations (wtacn were contained in the Reserves Committee's report) did not evoke any discussion.