The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-15
NEW YORK'S MENAGERIE.
JUST WHAT MAY he SEEN AMONG
THE ANNALS ~ 7HE PARK.

They are Housed. what They Eat. nnd
what Some or Them Are worth-The
Animals That Are Most Attractive.
The Central Park MenaRerie is In the south
eastern part of the Park, the grounds extend
ing from Sixty-third to Sixty-hfth street on
Fifth avenue, and stretchink thence westerly
to the East drive ia the Park. over n substan-
TALLY level space rising into higher ground at
the west, ard including a little rocky promi-
hence at the northwest corner. The adjacent
ground is in the main higher than the level
space OF the menagerie grounds, SO that in sit
uation the menagerie 10 somewhat sheltered.
The old Arsenal, which lie now used for vari-
GUS purposes %. the Park Department, stands
within the menagerie grounds, near their
eastern border. A part of the Arsenal build
ing is now devoted to the use OF tho menagerio;
in the basement Of the northern end OF the
Arsenal building Is tho monkey house. The
monkeys were formerly kept In u house by
themselves on the grounds to the south of the
Arsenal. They were moved to their present
quarters for their better protection from
draughts. and TO give them more room. and
for the more convenient handling OF the large
crowds that come to see them. There are thir-
ty-six monkeys mere, valued at an average OF
SEQ apiece. Monkeys can be bought for SIS or
less, but some of these are for various reasons
specially valuable. one. at least. being counted
as worth $50. The monkeys food consists
principally Of Tread, milk, carrots. amt apples.
Visitors often bring things to feed to the mon
keys, bananas, and so on. but they are not per-
mitted 70 feed them. The things must be
given to the keeper, for care must be exercised
In feeding the monkeys. AMI they should be
fed at re xular hours. One OF the monkeys here
is twenty years old. The average life Of mon
keys IN captivity is not more than f)ur or
Ave years. There is here u monkey with q
baby monkey. the second born In this menag-
erie in ten years. 1t Is very unusual for mon
keys to breed in captivity.
There are also in the monkey house, four
opossums: rhree COATS, an animal from South
America somewhat resembling the raccopn;
FIVE agoutis. a South American animal with
,erv slim legs and darkish brown fur. and about
the size of a rabbit; one meerkat: a curious
little animal from south Africa. Hraytsh col
ored. like a ra;; and one G'HHMi6u; an anamAl
In the suace to the east Of the Arsena there
are the dove cage. the eagle rage, AMI the bird
house, in thu order namet. BEGINNING at the
north. In the dove house there are doves and
pigeons and some aquatic birds. There are
some sea gulls here. and gannets, and one
In the eagle cage there are at present no
eagles. bnt there are an Egyptian vulture. q
griffin vulture. two turkey buZZards. eight red
tail hawks. one chicken hawk, and two great
horned owls. The birds in this cage are fed
In the bird house there are three hooking
birds, six robins. two blackb'rds. one thrush
o.e raven. Ave crows. one iackdaw. three car
crjrbeaks. three goldnnches. forty canaries.
six Java sparrows; two toucans. SIX paro-
qnets. one cocka,silc. six macaws,, seven bar
rots. eight cockato"s.. two wocdpeckors, TWEEN
ty-nine ringinves. nnd four curassow. Direct
IL south Of the Arsenal is the old monkey
house, now put to uses of general utility.
Directly west OF the Arsenal is the lion
house. a building about l2oAoo ieet; with cages
on both sides through the entire length. and
an avenue between for visitors. Tue building
extends north and south. On the east side
a - ill., A.,,,. In rnRAa aut II no ar fha
s0utlleast corner. are four lion cuts, one tiger
cuo. one hyela cub. and one leopard cup. with
remainder of the east side of the building TO
the northeast corner are tho tw" tanks mat
are the winter quarters for the Representatives,.
the cubs are Fati~a aud baby Cyrus. and In
the corner tank Miss Murphy and Caliph.
on the west SIDE of the lion house. begin
ming at the northwest corner. are three cages
occupied by leo pards. | the fourth cage Is a
lioness. next IN that another lionosr' IN me
that a tigress. next to thai u puma and Two
cubs. next ~ male puma. and N the asst cage
10 the south on that side another male puma.
In "A tank under the pumhs' cages there are
thirtv-hve ,aliinators ranging from SIX inches
The animals in the lion louise are fed at .
O'Clock daily except sundays: animals OF the
cat IA iily i'll captivity are said 10 be better
chosen for the dav on which they shall not be
fed. because of the difficulty that would attend
feeding on that day OF account Of he crowds
of visitors. On fine Sundays It II often diffi-
cult To get through the lion house. the crowd
OF the four hippoootamu'es TWO were bought
by the city for $1,000 each, Two. Fatima,
and her baby. Cyrus. no" nine moths old;
were born in this nienaperie. tatina and
Cyrus are each worth al least as much as the
city paid for each OF the two others. so that
Iuther at about $50. 900. The adult hippopota-
muses. are fed on hay. grass. bran, APPLES. car
re Ggti So and bread dS%. and dhs about sn' t aSen1 500 'oa p@1n" Of
bread. The bran, apples. and carrots ar"
made into a mash. The baby hippopotamus
% south Of the lion hou e there is an enclosure
for Brazilian goats; of which there are six,
Vet .bt Of the Lion b hHIsI Is t about apu 100 5ot by ae 9o
feet, with suitable adjoining paddocks for the
outdoor exercise OF the animals. In the deer
one hartebeest, sixteen nylGhaus,
one fat-tailed sheen. one mouaon. two asses.
:. hartabees, is worth abont $500, the ostriches
are worth about $500 a pair. The antelopes
and sheep eat hay and = ch Trass c s%6 corn snG c ana
bage and bread. and once In a while "A q ash
OF bran and ground oats, and occasionally a
load OF large gravel stones is dumped into their
paddock: II the gravel were not SUPPLIED
the ostrIches would dig holes in the paddock
and near to the western boundary of the
grounds. Is the elephant house. about 80 80 fe,t.
In the ele phant house thee are three elephants
tho two-horned kind. which is very rare: It
is owned by the ,2it.. and Is worth sl5 600.
IL Is Ieu on nav anu grass. ~ HuShro VI o'eh
and ground-up apples and carrots. 1t Is not IA
big eater for an animal Of its size. Or tho
elephants one is II male. Toni, a trick. ele-
phant, and two are females. Luchess and Bn-
eel. One OF the elephants is owned by the
city and two are not. The thrS. elephants
once in n while. but hay Is their PRINCIPAL food.
Adjacent to the elephant house on the north
is IL wire enclosure for uhenSant~. in which
there are three rim -nccked English pr,easar Is,
nine golden phcasantS, eight silver plieashnts.
six Lady Amherst pheasants. enc Japanese
pheasant, and one copper pleasant.
Along the northern side Of tho menag-rie
grounds there are five animal houses. three
built together and two sep lrately. each house
having II paddock IN front Of II. beginning at
the westerly end NJ this roE tie hrst house and
paddock are occupied by - pail of bison owned
~ the ,ity. and worth about 81 900. The bison
eat corn and hay and grass IN quantity about
the same as a COW would eat.
Next to the bison are the Cape buffalo,
four OF them. worth S25o 10 $500 each. They
come from the Cape of Good Hone. The, are
not so large as the bison and are smooth-roated.
In the next house and paddock there are
seven ZeAus, sometimes called sacred cattle.
Iebus breed in captivity. and many have been
born IN this country. Tho zebus are worth
about 5000 n pair.
Next To the leDus is the dromedary. which
IL