WILD BEASTS CHEAPER

Hawera Star, Volume L, 25 October 1930, Page 9

WILD BEASTS CHEAPER

Snakes at One Pound a Foot

A RECENT sale of animals at the famous Hamburg* wild animal market east a< startling light upon the drop in prices of many wild animals that once .commanded] very high figures, writes E. G. Boulengcr, in the “Daily Telegraph. ’ ’ Lions, for example, are not worth more than. £l5O each at the outside, and many other creatures once 'commanding extravagant figures are now comparatively cheap. This is not due to any loss of interest in animals, for zoos aTe more popular than ever, and private menageries are on the increase.

The. present “slump” is largely due to the strides that 'have recently been made in menagerie keeping, involving many discoveries in medicine and general hygiene. These have unquestionably done much to reduce the prices of many creatures, since a much lower mortality automatically decreases the demand for fresh specimens. As a result, for instance, of the use in all up-to-date menageries of artificial sunlight, •many creatures, once rarities, eauy-now.be> induced to breed freely.

The hippopotamus, for example, once commanded almost any price the dealers liked to demand, but to-day so many happy marriages have enriched tire world’s zoos with hippo calves- that £■±oo is the outside figure for an adult river horse. Giraffes are still valued at £IOOO ® pair, and a good riding elephant will fetch anything between £±oo and £6OO. The great apes are, of course, in a class by themselves. A good-tempered, well-trained chimpanzee is almost beyond valuing, and worth many times an unsophisticated specimen recently imported into this country. Birds, on the whole, are cheaper than mammals, though extravagant figures are sometimes set on certain fancy species.

The extraordinary heights to 'which the price of blue budgerigars soared

at one period may be traced to. the great popularity of this variety of love bird in the Ear East. It has ever been the custom in Japan for the wealthy bridegroom to present his bride with, a pair of these little parrakeets. It so happened a few" years ago that the price of these birds was forced till it reached £l5O a pair, at which point every European, dealer seriously addressed himself to the possibilities of breeding the blue variety on -at large scale. So Well did they succeed that the bubble burst with dramatic suddenness, leaving behind- a swarm of blue budgerigars that to-day are not worth more than £2 10s a pair.

Beauty often counts far less than rarity in fixing an animals market value. The writer was asked some years ago to pay £2OO for a pair of “lion-headed” goldfish. This “triumph” of the breeders’ art is- a goldfish minus- its dorsal fin, and with the head surmounted by fleshy growths which are remarkably suggestive of disease. 1 • - • - • -

. Sea fish of any kind cannot be regarded as cheap, and few specimens in the Zoo Aquarium cost the society less than £5. This may seem a grotesque price for fish that would be dear at l'Od a pound- in any shop, but it must be remembered that the -safe transport of these animals from the sea to- the zoo is a much more difficult task than the conveyance of a monkey or lion from the Congo to Regent’s Park. The specific gravity, aeration, and heating of the travelling water needs constant, attention, and even the most tireless efforts may result in the final entry into the acquarium of a mere corpse.

Reptiles possibly find a smaller clientele than most other creatures. The larger ’ snakes are sold at about £1 a foot for the first 12ft. When this length is exceeded, however, the price depends chiefly on the purse of the purchaser and the dealer’s nerve.