ZOO “MISFITS”

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 May 1929, Page 12

ZOO “MISFITS”

“KANGAROO” AS A WOLF. ’situated as it is on the north bank of the Regent’s Canal, which is probably the remotest spot in the Gardens the North Mammal House at the London Zoo does not get the attention it deserves from the casual visitor, whose chief aim and object is to see the lions, tigers, elephants, and all the bigger thrills in the more accessible parts of the Gardens (remarks the Zoological Correspondent of the “Morning Post”). To many habitual visitors, however, this building is full of interest, for in it are housed all the animals that do not naturally fit into any other house. Among these “misfits,” the Thylacine or Tasmanian Wolf is perhaps the rarest and most interesting of all.

Although at first glance it bears a resemblance to a wolf in outward appearance, it is in no way related to the canine family, but is really a marjsupial, and the female has a pouch in which she carries her young, just like a kangaroo. The Thylacine is smaller than the true wolf in size, but the most striking point of difference between the two is the tail, which in the--former is thin and rat-like and merges into the ’ body in such a way ' that it is hard to tell where body ends and tail begins; moreover, the hind part of the back and a portion of the tail are striped tranversely, like a zebra. The eyes of this queer relic, too, are large and cow-like, and quite unlike those of most other carnivora. As it does most of its hunting by night, it is very rarely seen, and with the march of civilisation it is becoming rapidly extinct. It is a stupid creature of low intelligence and has been described as “a kangaroo masquerading as a wolf and not very successful in the part.”

Another *pouched animal which lives in the same house is a tree kangaroo from New Guinea. In these creatures the hind limbs have not been developed at the expense of the fore limbs, as in' the true kangaroos, but are equal in length and furnished with claws which assist them in their arboreal habits. The tail, too, is long and flexible, and although not actually prehensile, is much used in climbing. A few cages away are a number of curious rodents from another part of the Southern Hemisphere. These are a family of viscachas from the Pampas of South America. The viscachas are closely related to the chinchillas of the Andes, but are very much larger in size and their fur is coarse and wiry. Large colonies of these animals live in underground burrows, which they share with a species of woodhewer, a swallow and a burrowing owl. The burrowing owl can be seen at the Zoo, but the wood-hewer and the swallow have never been brought to this country alive.