DOCTORING ANIMALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18929, 29 January 1925, Page 12

DOCTORING ANIMALS.

PATIENTS AT THE ZOO.

CAREFUL ATTENTION GIVEN.

PILLS AND CASTOR OIL. DEATH OF THE ANT-EATER. How does one give pills to an elephant, administer an emetic to a monkey, trim the nails of a chimpanzee, or put a sick anu-eater to bed"! Queer questions, are they not? Yet no whit queerer than the many small services which have to be rendered to ailing members of the large and heterogeneous family now in residues at the Auckland Zoo. Tha animals at the Auckland Zoo enjoy excellent health on the whole, for tliey are given every care and attention, and live in an environment that might well turn the inhabitants of many an oldworld zoo pale with envy. Several of the arenas provided for tho larger animals are a long way in advance of those at the world-famed Taronga Park, Sydney's Zoo, and the fact that there is a natural and plentiful water supply running through the grounds is an advantage that cannot, be over-estimated. But animals are tricky subjects to deal with. Something goes wrong with thef internal mechanism now and again, and it takes all the skilled care and nursing that am bo provided to bring them back to health. Often the cause of the trouble is obscure, and when it comes to dealing with queer creatures whose habitat is somewhere thousands of miles away at the other end of the earth, there is very little to guide those whose duty it is to care for these poor exiles "in sickness and in health." Various Homely ' Remedies. Auckland's pet elephant, Jamuna, for instance, had a spell of sickness last- year. She needed an aloe pill, but the veterinary surgeon, while an expert as dosing horses'• and domestic animals," found' himself rather nonplussed when it came to getting a pill down an elephants wide throat. Ata All, Jamunr.'s devoted beeper, solved the difficulty by suggesting that the aloes should be broken up and placed in a certain form of delicacy that appeals particularly to the elephant's sweet- tooth, a ball made of sugar, butter and flour. This was done, znd Jamuna took her pills as unprotestingly as the small boy swallows the camouflaging spoonful of jam. When a. monkey seems to be a little bit "oft its food," it is given honey, sulphur and chemical food, which is staled to be an excellent "'pick-ine up" for the longtailed fraternity. Lions are dosed — wbeo necessary—with black sulphur-and areca nut, polar hsars find a dcise of codliver oil mixed in with their food very stimulating, and if the hippo were to show signs of being a little "off colour." a dose of castor oil would probably fix things. The keeper and his attendants know the signs of a sick animal. The hears claws turn in instead of out when they are not well, the lions droop their ears, and the monkeys sit by themselves and -look miserable, instead of joining in the giddv throng, swinging by their tails. Bot it is only in rare instances that, there is any serious illnes among the ani'nift 1 * or tltai the Zoo hospital contains an occupant*. And even when animals are ill, it is sometimes Sound more convenient to treat them elsewhere. Post-Ewrton on Zebra.

The erne! poisoning pf a number of animals at the Zoo last, year gave the attendants a very anxious tone- Strenuous efforts were made to save the two agoutis, •who were among the victims, but in vain. The ooisoning was traced as the result of a post-mortem held on a zebra, probably the first of its kind held, in New Ze&iand. The remaining zebra is a very healthy and beautiful fellow, 1 as full of -tricks "as a Maori pony !" commented the •Vet,/" as the animal bounded down the hill to have his soft nose stroked through rtinns wire. One has to be of a resourceful turn of mind to deal with, some of the esses that •need attention at the Zoo. Some time -age, for instance, an agouti had' a sore hind foot. This little beast is about the size of a small rabbit, and how to get at the foot to clean and dress it was rather ■ a problem. At last the keeper s wife hit on the happy idea of enticing .the agouti, into a, long black tubber boot. She cut breathing holes in the sole, placed isome pieces of carrot in the boot, and when the agouti .ran eagerly into the boot •to get them he was firmly clasped round the middle, and the little foot attended to- without difficulty. On another occasion, the kangaroo was operated on for an internal complaint, and wiis making an excellent recovery when suddenly it, died from some unexplained cause. The setting of a deer's broken leg was another operation performed by the vet. Such mishaps as take place ate usually the result of accident, but the casualty list is fortunately a very light one, and it- is not often- that the health of the animals gives cause for. anxiety. Replacing the Ant-eater. > Death has .finally overtaken the giant, ant-eater at the Zoo. The animal arrived bv the Tekoa a fortnight ago, having sur-i vived its mate, which died on the voyage. The pair were purchased in London, for £l5O. Every effort was made to save the poor beast, which, when landed, was suffering from internal trouble and a number of terrible bed-sores. These seemed to be healing, but despite unremitting care on the part of Dr. W. C. Ring, the veterinary -■surgeon, he finally succumbed. The ant-eater would have been a great acquisition to the Zoo. He was about three feet high, and had a large, irregularshaped bodv. and an extraordinarily Ions?, slender stout with which he was supposed to root up ant-hills. When he lapped up milk, onei got a glimpse of a curving tongue ait long and thin as a whip lash. Sis ,handsomest feature was an * extra- , ordinary tail that was like a great brown brush of dried grass or seaweed. When he lay down,-he spread this tail right over .his body as a protection from flies. Fortunately the Zoo is not to be long without suci an interesting exhibit. Negotiations hai e been completed for the acquisition of another ant-eater, which bappens to ?>3 in Auckland at present. This animal, together with an armadillo procured from the same source, will probably be safely housed at the Zoo to-day or tomorrow.

The armadillo if a native of South America. As its name suggests it is 'armoured by a covering formed by the 'ossification of the greater part of the skirt. The* back, sides aitd head are thas protected mor& or less completely.