New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-07-08
PARK GETS PYGNY H|PPOS
Pair of Rare Animals Are Shipped
from Hamburg.
FIRST TO BE EXHIBITED
Hagenbeck Sent Intrepid Hunter
to Liberia to Seek Specimens
of Unusual Creatures.

The New York Geological Park has &C.
quired. at a cost Of $4,000. pair OF pygmy
hippopotami, which came in yesterday on
the steamship Bermuda, Of the Hamburg
American Line. As soon as they are passed
b. the customs officials they win be taken
to the park in motor trucks and placed IN
their quarters in the elephant house.
They arrived in Hamburg from Africa on
June L. They are the first pygmy hippo
potani 70 be exhibited.
In announcing the acquisition OF the ami
mails Or. William T. Hornaday said yester-
day that with the exception OF a few
museum men and the few biologists who
are interested in the .ungulates the pygmy
hlppopotamus has been to the world moth
ing more than a name, and 70 most people
It has been not even that
Its discovery" said DR.. Hornaday. was
made known TO the world IN 1894 by DIT.
Samuel @. Morton. OF the Philadelphia
Academy Of Science. but with the puhllca-
ton Of his papers the diffusion 81 knowl-
edge regarding the new species almost came
10 an end"
In explaining how the rare pair were
captured Dr. Hornaday said that eighteen
months ago Carl Hagenbeck dispatched 70
Liberia an intrepid hunter and explorer
named Hans schomburgk His mission was
10 find and obtain alive several specimens
Of the almost mythical pygmy animal
Tho region which finally had TO be pene-
trated." said Dr. Hornaday, was found -
be reeking with cannlbals, for whose d.
version an imposing company Of native sol
diers had 10 be enlisted. Nr. Hagenheck
declared that the explorer objected TO being
eaten"
The adult male pygmy which has been ac-
quired is 90 inches high at tho shoulders, 70
inches IN length from end OF nose 20 base
of tail. and the tail itself Is Z inches long.
The male pygmy weighs 4l9 pounds or more.
The female. which is believed TO be only
two years old. stands IS inches high at
the shoulders and weighs l76 pounds
Callph. the Central Park hippopotamus, now
in the Museum Of Natural History. weighed
$500 pounds He was II feet In circum-
ference and Il feet long.
The adult pyguy is about the size OF
twelve months old baby OF the large species
or about fourteen times smaller than the
normal animal Its skull IS moro convex
or rounded on It's upper surface It's legs
are longer and more slender In proportion
and fits eyes do not protrude Ike those OF
the giant species. A striking feature Is the
long tail. which in proportion is twice as
long as that Of the larger variety,
The face Of the pygrny is relatively small
or than that OF the large species. The lower
law bears only two incisors, while the large
snecIes has four. The eyes are not set as
high in the head Of the small animal as IN
the large one.
1--WE await with keen interest Hans
ccbomburgk's accounts Of the habits and
life history in general Of this rare ana
strange animal" said DR.. Hornaday. we
have been informed, however, that it makes
IFS home in swamps and wet forests. often
at a distance Of several miles from the near
est river or lake. and that It is not at all
dependent on large bodies Of water as its
colossal relative always seems to be.
The food to be given the new jungle rep
resentatives will probably consist OF neshy
and tender plants and reeds and grass that
&c not too coarse and tough 70 be mastl-
Gated by small jaws.