The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-07-20
AUSTRALIA PARK
 IS REGULAR zoo

They call 1t the "wonder Zoo." And no one who has visited Taronga Park, on Sydney harbor, New South Wales, will deny its right to that title.
 It has become. in a few years, one of the most popular resorts in the commonwealth, and every year more thousands are added to the total number of visitors. The aver age annual attendance is half a million, while the revenue is about 16,0O0 pounds (normally $s0,000). The zoo is self-supporting, and new Buildings and other improvements are paid for out of revenue.
 No other geological gardens, pos sibly, are so beautiful in situation. Wandering along the broad and winding pathways, now in shadow and then in sunshine, you win glimpses of the world famed har- bor; of glimmering sea, of tall ships and busy ferry and steamers; or gray headlands, of sea birds on white or silvery wings. and of the coastwise buildings of the city which lies across the water.
 Lures Holiday Crowds.
 On holidays the zoo lures some times. 2o,oo0 people. There are facilities for picnicking, but the great refreshment rooms are capable of providing meals for all the visitors.
 No tourist from overseas should leave Australia without a visit to the ''Wonder Zoo" He will compare it to Bronx Park, maybe, though 1t differs in many ways from that de- lightfu1 place.
 The main aims, when the zoo was Dbeing planned, were to show wild animals to the best advantage, and to give them the maximum of freedom and comfort consistent with the safety of spectators. And those aims have been realized.
 There are some cages, chiefly big flight aviaries, but, in the majority of cases, the captives at Taronga Park are not imprisoned behind bars. You see them across deep meats. They live in the open air, with only the sky for a coop. And they thrive so well under these conditions that they are sleek and beautiful, and ap- pear to be contented.
 There is a delightful sense of free dom. The safety space which exists between the animals and the public has been carefully gauged in most cases, guessed at in few. And ob- servation has shown that the space allowed for lions, tigers, grizzly bears, etc, Is ample to prevent their break ing loose.
 The only creatures that have given trouble are the monkeys, which are more active and possess greater leap ing powers than they were credited with at first. Some of those that were placed in the new inclosures originally soon gained liberty for a while. Taking places were smooth ed or blocked; a little height was added here and a little more over hang there; and now, as an Ameri- can visitor expressed it, the monkeys "stay put"
 Meat Holds Tiger.
 The same visitor asked A. s. Le Soufe, the director of the park, How did you get the courage to place tigers behind only a moat?" The reply was that the distance a tiger would have to leap to gain its liberty, across a moat, was gauged by the observations of a hunter in India.
 In following up tigers, the hunter found that they would spring over a ditch measuring IS feet or under but would not attempt to clear any thing greater than that distance. Sc . the moat at the zoo was made 20 feet in width and 16 feet deep, with perfectly smooth perpendicular sides.
 The fierce and active tigers at Taronga may be gazed at without intervening bars; but they are nc menace to the spectators. Still the director does not consider that a moat of the same width and depth would be safe in the case of 1.-the 1eopards and pumas; they might "cannon' off the sides, as cat does Hrnr, nd n,-e too heavy to perform this feat ot agility.
 Of all animals, the elephant has been most easily blocked from es- cape. A moat only four feet ir width is sufficient. Bears are be- hind 10-foot meats; the small Nal azan bears have only five feet bel tween them and the public footpath
 The seal pond is one of the most popular features. Next, perhaps come the aviaries. There is a won. derful collection of birds, including birds of paradise, which have proved easy to keep.
 These lovely forest dwellers, the gems of tropic isles and wild New Guiena, are no lovers of sunshine they prefer shade, and from twill leafy bowers in the aviaries, theil 'plumes gleam and sparkle like clus ters of precious stones.
 ? Here you will see the king bird O paradise, the magnificent variety, tn, redbird-all in fine plumage. Stand ing by their aviary, under the blu' Australian sky, on a summers day it is easy to imagine that you are il the tropics, with the paradise bird feeding or preening their glorious plumes right before your eyes.
 The space allotted to the animal now is about thirty acres, in the cen tral portion of the park The schem of Improvements includes an amuse ment area, with scenic railway swings, a sports ground, and S forth. It is intended, also, to hay an aquarium and insect houses.
 Within the gardens there ar charming bit of bushland, and il spring native wild flowers fleck tn grounds with many colors. Ther are native trees, too, the ubiquitou gum, golden lowered wattles, casu arinas, and many more that are dea to all Australians Adjoining tn