MODERN ZOOS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13361, 27 April 1911, Page 6

MODERN ZOOS.

IDEAS AND DEVELOPMENTS. Some Marvellous Animals. Mr. A. Le Soeuf, director of the Sydney Zoological Gardens, has arrived in Wellington to report on the reorganisation of the zoo. He says that apimals in captivity exhibit . characteristics of which they were formerly thought quite incapable, come of them approximating very closely to those found in human beings. There was in the Sydney Zoo a chimpanzee, which showed the utmost intelligence in discovering ways to get out of its cage. The carpenter had taught it to drive in screws and take them out. Shortly afterwards the carpenter had to fix some ventilators in tho cage, and the chimpanzee stole and secreted his screwdriver, took all tho screws out of the ventilators, and effected his escape. His cage was protected with heavy plate glass windows too thick for him to break with his fist. Ho found however, that by swinging himself from a tree in the centre of the cage and letting himself go with a tremendous bang against the glass with his back, he could break the windows, and he escaped for the second time. The windows were then covered'with heavy wire netting fixed in strong iron frames. By accident the animal got hold of a piece of iron, with the aid of which he broke away the woodwork which fastened tho iron frame to the window, and by the aid of his enormous strength, he soon had the wire frame out. After that he broke the window by swinging against it and secured a nail with which he untwisted the edge of the wire framework and then tore the whole thing away. He then also showed great intelligence by the way in which he stopped his hammock from swinging. He got a piece of wire, fastened it to one side of the hammock and the other end to a cleat in the floor, and thus the hammock was made stationary. “There was also at the Zoo a very powerful baboon which was put into a strong brick and iron cage. With the aid of a nail the baboon worked away the cement between the bricks and pulled some of the bricks out. He was found just in time to prevent him escaping.”