CONDITIONS AT ZOO

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 149, 21 December 1926, Page 11

CONDITIONS AT ZOO

(To fh« Editor.)

Sir,— Passing through Wellington, I took a run up to your Zoo, and being an ornithologist, .was - naturally interested in the bird exhibits. The keas and pukeko appear resigned to their fate, but the unhnppy state of our little friends the banded rail and weka is not complimentary to those in charge. The former is about as far removed from its natural environment as it is possible to be, for the' little creature is shut up witb other species (parrots and guch like). Then there is no soil, no moistui-'s, and a hard concrete floor. It is a picture of abject misery awaiting that death that will surely be a release from its tortures. The poor weka has no shelter, and when .1 saw it the bird was doing its best to avoid the rain by tucking its ample head under its diminutive wing. The.bird was undoubtedly suffering ftom cold and wet. The pukckoß ' had a batch of three young one*. They were hatched when I j was there. I watched them for three i hours; A few days later all the young had disappeared. Nobody seemed to know where. The attendants did not seem to take any interest, and apparently krtew nothing. Not only are the civic authoritieg blameable for the state of affairs at your Zoo, but as Home of these birds are of species absolutely protected, surely that Government Department which issues permission to keep protected birds in captivity is also blamea;ble to some extent.—l am, etc., v ■ TOURIST. Dunedin, 18th Dee.