MANATEES AND RATS
GIFTS TO LONDON ZOO. [ British Official Wireless. ] RUGBY, Aug. 19. Recent additions to the London Zoo* logical Gardens which have aroused much public interest following the gift by the Prince of Wales of an Okapi, which arrived at the end of July are two manatees from the West Indies, for which a specially-designed tank like a large and luxurious bath has been provided, and four vampire bats, also from the West Indies. Tho bats are the gift of a corresponding member of the Zoological Society who caught them in Trinidad and trained them to lap defibrinated blood from a wineglass. Tho manatee is the American representative of a group of herbivorous aquatic mammals. The American manatee inhabits the rivers of Florida, Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, and measures from nine to 13 feet in length. The body is somewhat fish-like, ending in a broad shovel-liko tail. The animals are slow of movement and perfectly harmless, but are hunted for the sake of their oil, skin, and flesh. The manatee is said to bo the origin of many legends of mermaids, while the Amazonian species is the object, of superstitious reverence by the Indians.
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Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 196, 22 August 1935, Page 7
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198MANATEES AND RATS Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 196, 22 August 1935, Page 7
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