The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-15
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TIL F. 70 NJ A n CE OF
7 He zoo y ~ y ~
By G. ]. CORNISH, F. T. S.. Etc.


| wild donkey has stripes his back
whatever He is whole colored a dun
or white pony as to his body But his legs.
which are almost white, striped below
the knee and look almost like zebras.
The lines quite black. distinct and
wavy. In this case it looks as If the zebra
stripes had been almost discarded. 1t would
only be necessary to give to it's descendants
the zebra shape. and then improve on this
and breed so as to obtain horses tail, and
you would have your horses ''manufac
tured" from the natural article. Tails. as
all breeders know, are easy to alter under
domestication. Sheep, for instance. vary
much in this respect. some having naturally
short tails like the wild sheep, while one
breed, that of Persia and parts Of Syria,
has long tail which Is so fat that it is en-
couraged to grow, and little wheeled carts
are fastened to it to prevent its being in
Jured on the ground.
WILD SHEEP AND GOATS.
There is an interesting collection of wild
sheep at the Zoo, and another of wild goats.
|, Any interested in the subject of do
mesticated animals will find much of inter-
est in comparing these with the tame sheep.
The differences are far greater than those
between the horse and the zebra.
In the first place wild sheep lin the
summer tlme) has any visible wool. What
wool there is is merely down. hidden under
the hair Some, like the Owls Ammon and
the Barbary sheep. grow big woolly names
in the winter, but they are all smooth
coated animals, the color of sandstone rock.
The line between the wild sheep and the
wild goats is also difficult TO draw Some
species, like the Barbary sheep, might be-
long to either. Both wild goats and wild
sheep become equally tame in captivity.
though the goats are the more restless of
the two. The rarest of the wild sheep at
the London Zoo is the Owls Ammon 1t is
young male from the mountains of east
ern central Asia. and is. believe, the
only specimen now in Europe. 1t came
when a very young lamb, so young that it's
sex was not known. Now it is growing
fast, though the horns have not taken the
circular curve which this, in common with
several other wild sheep, has. The Bar
barry sheep is one of the largest of the tribe.
There is whole flock of these in house
close TO the band stand. Hunting, or rather
shooting them, is one of the most difficult
sports in the world, pursued mainly on the
dry stony mountains at the back of the
Atlas range.
Yet for some reason more Barbary sheep
are caught and kept in menageries than
any other wild ovine creatures. The Arabs
shoot the mothers and catch the lambs
They also breed as well in captivity as if
they were wild. There are always two or
three charming little lambs, bright fawn
in color, with little horns budding on the
foreheads, in the yard at the Zoo. All, old
and young alike. feed readily from the
hand and would make charming pets in
any home farm or park. The Burhel sheep
of the Himalaya, and the Thar, another
Indian breed, smaller than those of
the North African mountains. One of the
puzzles of the Zoo is to stand at a distance
from their cages and guess in a glance
how many sheep are in sight. So exactly
do they match the color of the pile of
rocks in the center of their cage that It
nearly always happens that one or two are
overlooked The original of our domestic
goat is believed to be the hex of Asia
the Paseng. 1t has large horns with rings
upon them. other ibexes in the zoo are
from the Apprentices and Sardinia All
very tame, standing on their hind feet
to beg Of passers-by. They deserve better
quarters and more space to show their
power Of jumping.
THE DEER.
The deer at the Zoo would look better il
turned out loose in the park outside on
the other hand it is easier to study them
at close quarters where they are Each
country seems to have it's native large
deer, together with two or three smaller
and different kinds. Many of these may be
seen at the Zoo. but the local grouping is
not preserved. In England, for instance.
we have the red deer, representing the
large kinds, the small fallow deer and the
roe buck. Across Europe the same three
species are found. Then, crossing north
ern Central Asia, the Maral stag takes the
place of the red deer. A variety of this
deer, or perhaps the same under another
name, is Suedorf's deer, a specimen of
which is now in the Zoo Lately Mr.
Hagenbeck, of Hamburg. obtained eighteen
of these rare deer from somewhere in North
Manchuria for the Duke Of Bedford. The
far East sends several deer to the Zoo. in
GLIDING a tiny water deer with no horns
at all. The Japanese deer are well worth
looking at. They are to be found cat the
Zoo on the banks of the canal near the in
sect house. They are sturdy COLBY lit
tie deer. with fine heads and strong bodies
The Indian deer. like those of Europe are
divided into three main groups OF different