The Washington times., 1908-06-19
KITCHEN OF A ZOO
LIKE BIG HOTELS
Bread for Bears and Vege-
tables for Other Beasts
Always Cooking.

A visit to the kitchen OF a big zoo
viii convince anybody that the man
VINO takes several hundred assorte5
wild ANIMALS to board has his work
cut out for him and plenty of it.
The hardest as well as the most i'm
portant thing In such a job of cat ering
Is 10 1nd out just what VIII best agree
with each individual boarder. As there
are few creatures more easily upset
than wild animals In captivity the task
Is by no means an easy thing.
The ZOO landlord would be GLAD
enough II his dumb animals had a.
least a portion of the perennial flow
or language with which every human
ooarder seems 10 be endowed. Hed
rather have them kick about the fooo
than merely crawl on into a corner
and leave it all alone
The kitchen is apt 70 be IN base
ment Under one of the animal houses.
Hear a hot fire burns a good deal OF
the time while things simmer IN dou-
Ole boilers and bake IN the ovens.
When a reporter visited one zoo kitCh-
en- the other day the oven was full of
brown bread for the bears. IL was iu
great square leaves over a foot in dI-
ameter and about three inches deep,
It was not like Boston brown bread
nor yet like the usual bakers loaf IL
was almost as solid as a rock; not any
light JTlVialiLy such as humans get un-
der the name of bread. II was made
OF whole wheat bran, graham -four
and molasses, and the bears thrive
upon it.
Bruin Gets No Meat.
with the exception Of the polar hears.
the bruin family does not get meat at
the zoos. The keeper tells you lSconi-
cally that they are not carnlvorous.
He evidently never lived on a Maine
farm close TO the woods ana had holes
picked in his flock of sheep by maTaud-
ing bears
The superintendent Of the zoo. who
IS the real landlord, and the head keep
err VINO does the actual catering knows
better They know that "a big bear
would make short work OF a live lamb
or sheep If he got the chance. But
he's better of In captivity without sucn
a hearty meal. even if they were will
ing 20 let him have tt.
But they let nIm have a little Varje-
=. They make huge cakes Of boiled
rice mixed with egg and milk These
become arm as they get cold ana are
cut into sections of various sizes and
given 10 all the bears except the pOlars.
Little bears get pieces as big as
mans two fists Big bears get a hunk
as big as mans head It doesu
look Ike much OF a meal for an animal
Weighing about half ton, but there s
a lot OF nOurishmeut in II. And IL
weighs eight pounds anyway.
The big bears get about Is pounds at
their two daily meals. Sometimes Il S
the brown bread. sometimes the rice;
occasionally oatmeal boiled and allow
ed 20 get cold and 10 set. once in a
while, as a rare treat they rave ar
pies or some berries. but II costs too
much 20 give them such daInJles very
otte-.
Begs for His Dinner.
If anybody wants to have proof hat
the mouth does water at the Thought
OF eating, let him watch the bears
when the keeper is bringing their food.
one big brown bear is always told
by the keeper TO stand up on mis- hind
feet and 10 ask for mis- dinner.
He does IL, holding the bars with his
forepaws, swinging his huge head from
side 10 side and grunring with open
mouth. And as he swings his head
there is ample and most amusing dem
Cnstration of the fact that his mouth
IS watering for the cake displayed out
side.
The polar bears get raw meat, which
they deVOur, bones and all They hold
81 down with one paw and tear pieces
of with their teeth.
A zoo of fair size Will use from 100
10 2OJ pounds of fresh meat a day. A
wagon was unloading al the time Of
the reporters visit. There were quar-
tiers and sides of beef, practically the
only kind Of meat used Almost all OF
IL is served raw
The mere cutting OF il is quite an
Uudert akiug. The big foints for the
lions, tigers. and animals OF that class
do not take long. But there are doz-
ems and dozens Of little pieces about
the size of "a mans finger which are
cut from the lean portions and put IN
the big cages for eagles. VUltures, owls,
and other fesh-eating birds.
Everything was good in quality Most
Of the things were OF the same grade
used in a hotel for human beings.
Many of the things were the best Of
their kind. And as for the cooking
there were fewer frius about il, OF
course. but there was no sighting the
real business.-\eW York sun.