THE ZOO CENSUS

Evening Star, Issue 22004, 13 April 1935, Page 5

THE ZOO CENSUS

The population of the zoo consists of nearly 2,000 birds, some 900 mammals, and over 1,200 reptiles; and at the end of every year all these creatures have to bo counted and valued. Taking this zoo census is not much trouble in houses occupied by the larger mammals, but in the reptile house it is a trying business, for before the census papers can be filled in several cages have to be completely dismantled because small reptiles have a habit of concealing themselves under stones and sand or among foliage, and all of them have to be unearthed from their hiding places; while if they happen to be venomous the keepers have to work skilfully and quickly. In aviaries containing small birds the birds move about so often and so swiftly that it is easy to make the mistake of counting the same bird twice or of leaving some out. The most valuable animals are the Indian rhinoceroses, since the price of a full-grown specimen is £2,000. Mok and Moina, the gorillas, are together worth £1,200, while a good riding elephant costs from £SOO to £6OO. When it has just arrived in this country a giraffe 12ft high costs £250, hut after it has spent one winter here its price rises to £SOO. Tigers are worth £75 to £IOO, but lions can be bought for £2O or £3O. . With the exception of the grizzly, which usually costs about £SO, any kind of bear is priced at £3O; but chimpanzees vary from £3O to £IOO, according to their size. King penguins cost £75 apiece, but an ostrich is considered cheap if purchased for £SO, and a cassowary is also worth £SO even in its vonth. . , “ A python from 6ft to 12ft in length is priced at the rate of about £1 pei foot, but over 20ft the value of each foot rises enormously, and so the zoo s 28ft python is worth £IOO. George, the centenarian alligator, is also worth £loo, as crocodiles and alligators are valued according to the number of years .to their credit, and age is at a prenuum. Young specimens cost only £2 or £3. The oldest established animal in the gardens is a brown bear, which has lived hi the menagerie since 1912; the youngest is the camel born on Christinas Day and called Noel. The oldest in years is a giant tortoise, believed to be about 150 years of age. . The rarest animal is the takin, a goatantelope, Jemiv. It is the only one of its kind in captivity, for, although there are plenty of takins in Tibet, they are sacred animals, and no one is allowed to i hunt or capture them.