LONDON ZOO

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17233, 12 April 1930, Page 4

LONDON ZOO

STOCKTAKING PROBLEM COLLECTION WORTH £35,000 LONDON, Eeb. 17. Curators at the London Zoo are just now asking themselves such questions as "What is the aye-aye worth?” for they me finishing their annual task of valuing every creature in the collection—except those on loan—for the yearly audit. Regular visitors to the gardens would probably find it hard to give a rough estimate of flic total value of the collodion. Actually, it is worth about £35.000. though* the value naturally fluctuates from year to year. Many familiar animals have a fixed value. ’ Thus Indian elephants- are worth £600; African elephants, £700; Indian rhinoceroses, £1000; African rhinoceroses. £550; American bison, £500; giraffes. £500; hippopotami, £800; lions, £550; tigers, £100; king penguins, £75; hirds-of-jKiradise, £4O; and the aye-aye, £39. Brices vary a- little according to age, sex, demand, and supply. i\(,|. long ago blue budgerigars real ised £]()(} a- pair. Had tins large, price been maintained Hie stock in Hie Zoos aviaries would now be worth thousands of pounds; but, budgerigars have since bred so freely in other collections, that to-day they can he bought for £2 a pair, £lO FLAMINGOES. Any bird or mammal difficult to rear is worth considerably more than its cost price. Capo penguins, for instance, and European flamingoes can be bought for £lO each. Unfortunately, they are often infected with myosis, and only live a short time. Hence those that survive are valued highly. More hardy creatures, like cranes and storks, are only worth what was originally paid for them. Young seals, again, aro barely worth the carriage, since they do not thrive on forcible feeding, the only practicable method on a journey. Those, therefore, that survive the trials of infancy are worth a hundred times their cost price. The cost of keeping an animal is taken into consideration in estimating its worth. Some, like the walrus, consume daily so many pounds of fish, ilesh or fowl that their value is thereby decreased. The two most uncommon creatures at present in the Zoo are the takin and the great echidna. The takin is valued at £2OO, though visitors are not greatly attracted by it. Tito great echidna, too, prefers its sleeping box to the limelight, and has to be ruthlessly hauled out by its keeper whenever visitors wish to view it. Probably the rarest creatures of all, however, are the Komodo dragons. Besides being great favorites with the public, they attract the attention of scientists from all over the world. As they aro only lent to tho Zoo, thev do not appear in the annual balance-sheet, hut if lltev did they would undoubtedly head the list.