Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-01-21
"r-...- --''sT.
ANIMAL HOME CLOSED
Carl Hagenbeck Supplied the Nc.
naaeries of the World.

nageries Of the World.
To the circus loving boy it was one
Of the shocks of the world war that
seven hundred Of Carl Hagenbeck's
animals. had to be. killed as food for
the Germans. An after shock has
come in the announcement that the
collector of wild beasts has given up
his zoo in Hamburg. This also was
because Of food shortage. Hasenbeck
supplied the funds needed to buy food
at present prices for the more than n
hundred animals which were left. He
was not alone in the plight, for the
municipal zoo Of Hamburg, Germany,
also has had. to close.
1t is to Carl Hagenbeck that Ameri-
ca and other countries owe many of
their best specimens Of animals. Fte
is. the worlds foremost collector and
for moro than forty years before the
war had caught wild animals and sold
them to the menageries and circuses.
In order to obtain animals from Africa
and other countries he sent out sever
al transports annually from Hamburg.
His Venture With Circus.
Hagenbecks animals have been
shown all over the United States in
circuses. The circus which bears his
name in its. title is a reminiscense Of
short lived show which the collector
started fifteen years ago. ...
He had visited the United States in
1886 and then had conceived the idea
of organizing a circus and menagerie
combined. During the Worlds Fair
and Exposition at Chicago in 1893 he
again. had come to the United States.
He gave an astonishing exhibition at
the fair of the skill of his trainers in
subduing wild, animals. He brought
with. him about q thousand animals,
including lions, tigers, bears, leopards
and wild boars.
1t was in 1906 that he accomplished
his idea of a combined show. Accom-
panied by his son, LorenZ, Carl Ha-
genbeck came to America and estab-
lished one of the greatest travelling
exhibitions ever offered 1t was called
THE Carl Hagenbeck Greater Circus
and Show Company"
The circus was costly, however, and
did not make profits. In it's second
season, a particularly dull one. it
lost more than $4,000. 1t went into
the hands of receiver and subse-
quently was sold, but the name and
the. title picture of Mr.. Hagenbccl
were retained. >, .......
Animal Farm at Hamburg.
The Hagenbeck animal farm at
Hamburg, however, was the most in
tercsting of the collectors projects.
On tract of thirtyfive acres he re-
produced as nearly as possible the
natural environment Of his captiyes. 4
row of artificial hills, so cleverly made
that they were scarcely distinguish
able from natural rocks. became the
home of strange combination Of
animals. In the sides of the hills,
were rough caverns or Enclosures for
lions, tigers, bears, buffaloes, noun
tain goats and antelopes. Doors and
passageways led attendants and vLsi-
tors to the caverns.
a large inclosure was left for q COL
lection of deer and sheep, zebras,
camels, sacret cattle, llamas, bisons,
dwarf ponies-an unnatural but in
teresting motley. 4 pond near an i'm
itation iceberg and icc-covcred noun
tain made 4 home for seals and sea
lions, while in the mountains was Il
cavern for polar bears.
The barrier that kept these animals
on their farm was not the familiar
iron fence and bit Of shrubbery, it ap-
peared at first glance. But barrier
was there. the best protective barrier
for wild animals. 1t was muat, fif-
teen feet wide and ten feet deep,
across which none would dare try TO
leap.
The "Burbank Of Animals"
In addition to being a collector and
menagerie owner, Hagenbeck is an eX-
perimenter. He has been called tho
Luther Burbank Of the animal king
dom. On his farm, the warehouse for
the zoos Of the world he also tried
cross breeding. -Four strange crea-
lures which he succeeded in keeping
alive were the offspring Of Il tigress,
fathered by a lion. Deer and buffalo.
ibeX and chamois goats were crossed.
But before the experiments had gone
far came the war, the killing Of the
animals for food, and now the aban-
donment Of the farm-cnding the Wis
ion Of great breeding center for
animals at Hamburg.
Carl Hagenbeck inherited the busi-
ness Of trading in wild animals from
his father. The father started the
business in 1852 when Carl was S
years old. Hagenbeck, though in his
TOs. during the war had the contract
from the German government for
feeding prisoners in the concentration
camps. 1t was his experiment in Gr-
dering diet for his hungry beasts that
fitted him for his position, the gov