COMMUNAL ZOO BABY

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 August 1934, Page 8

COMMUNAL ZOO BABY

WIFE WHO ATE SPOUSE

LONDON, July 15. The Zoo’s African porcupines are now producing the same sound effects as a noisy motor-cycle, for a baby has arrived on the scene, and | this new member of the colony is regarded as communal property. It is washed and guarded not only by both parents, but also by various aunts uncles who share the den, and when anyone is heard approaching their'home they all gather round the youngster and unite to utter a chorus of grunts calculated to keep every caller at bay. The baby porcupine is one of the quaintest creatures in the Zoo’s nursery. At birth' it was completely naked, but now at the age of five days it boasts of a few quills which make it look exactly like an animat-> ed pin-cushion. ' Its rivals for the distinction of be- ' ing the Zoo’s queerest-looking youngster grs twin armadillos, which -were

also born last week. The adult armadillo is rather a curio, but the infants are even more peculiar, as they are no bigger than a week-old kitten, they are blind, and their bodies, instead of being covered with horny plates, are soft, though the skin has faint markings to show where it will eventually harden. This is the first time for more than 1 20 years that an armadillo has given birth to offspring at the Zoo. The Insect House has been the scene of another tragedy. Dor some weeks a pair of bird-eating spiders from Trinidad had lived together peacefully, but as the female was observed to be making preparations to lay eggs it was thought advisable to remove her companion to another cage. Accordingly he was placed in a neighbouring cage which was occupied by a lonely female bird-eating •spider. He had hardly had time to settle down when his new wife at- | tacked him and proceeded to devour him. His first wife, however, would certainly have eaten him had he remained with her. Another pair of goliath beetles

have been added to the collection of “horrors” in the Insect House, and some idea of the size of these beetles may be estimated by the fact that each eats three whole bananas in under a week.