Appetites at the Zoo

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIV, Issue 14, 8 April 1905, Page 42

Appetites at the Zoo

THE COMMISSARIAT AND the BILL OF FARE.

By

Richard H. Starr.

Recently a young goat was put into the cage of the great python in the reptile house at the Zoological Gardens. The little goat took no notice of the inert monster; the monster appeared oblivious of the existence of the little goat, except that now and then the basilisk eyes, set like green diamonds in the small, flat head, shifted uneasily. The sight destroyed for ever that dear fable of our nursery days, of how the larger serpent fascinates its little victim by the glare of its malignant eye, and draws -it shivering with fear slowly into its deadly folds. The goat did not display the slightest uneasiness. It strolled contentedly about the cage, eating some greenstuff. Occasionally it trod on one of those glittering, mosaic folds, and yet escaped retribution, for the great python does not slay for the. sake of slaying. After spending some time in its dangerous situation, the goat was removed, and sent back to the store. The python bad refused the proffered meal; he was not. hungry. Yet by ordinary computation lie should have been ready for a little refreshment, for he took his last goat over three months ago. The keepers arc confident now that he will eat nothing for two months more. PERVERTED APPETITES.

There are many perverted appetites in the. Zoo, but none are quite so startling as those to lie found in the reptile house. Before the heating arrangements were so perfect it was customary to cover the larger serpents with blankets at night. More than once has the keeper discovered in the morning a satisfied-looking serpent, and searched in vain for the blanket. Indigestion is not one of the woes of the reptile house. Several valuable serpents have been lost through one swallowing another. Incredible as it may appear, such occurrences are entirely accidental. They happen when two snakes start on the same piece of food at opposite ends. When they meet both refuse, or are unable, to disgorge, and consequently one disappears head foremost inside the other. Often the smaller serpents swallows the larger. A few items taken at random from the annual food bill may serve to give some idea of the capabilities of a zoological larder, and what it- means to feed some three thousand creatures for a yearEggs? 33.300. Horseflesh, 322,50011i5. Goatflesh, 18,2001b5. Clover. 153 loads. Hay, 144 loads. Straw, 238 loads. Bread, 0262 quarterns. Milk (fresh), 5080 quarts. Milk (preserved), 200 tins. Biscuits, 303cwts. Fish, 32,3781b5. Shrimps, 1200 pints. Fowl heads. 9530. Sugar, 4981b5. Liebig’s extract. 39 pots. Greens.. 6030 bunches. Carrots. 125 bunches and 144cvvts. Watercress, 1106 bunches. Bananas, 1300 dozen. Grapes, 9721b5. Dates. 8961b*. Oranges, 4700. MEAT EXTRACT AND EGGS. The item of 9530 fowl-heads may appear a curious one. to the uninitiated. They form the staple diet for nearly all the rodents and various birds. Liebig’s extract is largely used in the wild cat house, and occasionally for the monkeys. Hundreds of hard-boiled eggs go weekly to the parrots and soft-billed birds. Live fish are the prey of the diving birds, otters and seals; and the shrimps go chiefly to the flamingoes. Every day tho store sends to the lion house 3001 b of horseflesh, 181 b of goatflesh, and a number of sheep’s paunches, to lie divided among the 30 lions, tigers and leopards. Appetites suffer by captivity. A full-grown lion at the Zoo eats about 181 b of meat per day. la his natural state, wlien he has to hunt his dinner through the forest, this would bo a mere hors d’oeuvre to him. It may not be generally known that his majesty

the king of beasts eats a large quantity of fresh grass when in season, and will lap milk from a pan with as much avidity as his lesser brother, the domestic cat. The bears are more civilised. They take very little meal, and that has to be cooked to perfection. The bearkeeper supplies his family with a, hundredweight of biscuits a day, and for the rest they rely upon the generosity of the public. Punch and Judy, tha two wily old bears in the pit, live its clover. For fifteen years they have performed gymnastic feats on the central pole for the benefit of the children, and have never cost the society a penny for food. They live entirely upon buns contributed by grateful visitors. Their average bun consumption is from 150 to 200 a day. In captivity the bears do not hibernate, but during the hibernating period they go off their food. Two oc three lumps of sugar are quite sufficient) for them in the depth of winter. At tho present time each bear is not eating enough to keep a kitten alive. BONE EATERS. The neighbouring hyenas live on bones only. They are the. strongest-jawed animals in existence. They have a largo tooth at each side of the upper jaw, which bites against the keen edge of a corresponding tooth on the lower jaw, forming a pair of shears sharp enough to cut paper and strong enough to crack ttie thigh-bone of an ox. At the ape house the keepers ar* preparing food all day. The eight anthropoids are fed five times daily. In a week they consume 250 bananas, 60 oranges, three pecks of apples, and large quantities of dates, grapes, lettuces, and bread and milk. All the apes drink milk plentifully, except Mickey, the chimpanzee; he takes rice-water in preference. Every night of his life beforai going to bed Mickey takes a, cup of beef-tea, and if it is not forthcoming punctually he does not forget to shriek a noisy reminder. The' older apes carefully peel their oranges and bananas. For the babied the keepers do the peeling. Indigestion is the ogre of the ape house, and in this particular the animals are. far more delicate than children. When Venus and Chloe —the two ill-fated gorillas—were" in the gardens, the keepers even skinned their grapes and extracted the seeds.

The monkeys have a varied diet. They; eat apples, " pears, bananas, oranges, grapes, dales, bread and milk, boiled potatoes, raw carrots, cabbages and lettuces, biscuits, nuts and anything else that is offered them. Their chief complaint is overfeeding. After every Bank Holiday there is a dose of medicine all round. The cost of provisions for 1902 waa £4858; but last year this was reduced by more than a thousand pounds.