Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-07-29
The Wild
Animal Business
By Frederlc ]. IIaskIn

WaHusu an OcfiOf or rUo1utHin non,
would you know where to 20 to get
III Or suppose IL fs an imported
white tailed deer you seek. wild cat.
or brown bear. Filling the demand
for these and 81 hundred other Wild
and tame animals on q whoiesaie scale
is curious ,usiness, but thriving
and fairly large one, There are many
business concerns in the United States
engaged in the collection OF animals
from all parts of the globe. and their
sale TO private individuals. circuscs.
and geological parks. A number of
these nrfns are located along the Mexi-
can border.
The biggest part of the business Is
the importation of canary birds. Be-
fore the beginning ~ the World, War
canaries were imDorte. into the United
states at rate Of more than a
thousand q day. The record for one
year was reached shortly before the
outbreak Of the war. when the Gov
ernment recorded the entry Of 3s2 900
canaries.
Another bird item covers such birds
as quail pheasants. and wild turkeys.
As Il Is contrary 70 law to trap any
game birds IN the United States. birds
for stocking private game preserves
must be imported or the shooting sus-
pended for a period Of years while
the dwindied stock has a chance 10
multiply. The price for live Bob
White quail is usually from $3.50 to
$500 for each bird. depending upon
the size Of the order. Mountain quail
a.
OF the wild variety win often cost as
much as SIT apiece.
IT for any reason brown or black
bear should be desired. II may be se-
cured on fairly short notice for about
SIS. Mountain lions. alive cost as
much as $3.50. The smaller and com
moner wild cat costs only about 500.
For the larger animals, the whole
demand comes from the circus people
and ZOOS. The prices for some Of the
big beasts range Up to thousands Of
dollars. a good giraffe viii easily COM
mand $1,000. Geological men say that
there are only about 20 now in the
United States, the largest group be-
ing that owned by one circus. F'eyy
zoos can boast the possession of a
giraffe.
Another animal which Is rare in tho
United States is the rhinosceros. al
though It's cousin, the hfppotamug. can
be seen In almost any collections 81
wild beasts imported from other
cirncs. The gorilla. Of the four great
anthrapoid varieties. is very scarce
the only one in the United States hav.
ing died last winter from pneumonia
Good specimens Of either the rfino o.
the gorilla are worth AZ least SIS 600.
Lions Not Greatly In Demand.
Tigers command better price thar
/ lions. Right row lions are Il drug or
4 the market, and some can be obtained
/ for az little as $3.50 or s400. Lions ir
captivity often brted well and con.
siderable number now make Their
homes in this country. Not maDs
years ago the American bison hac
dwindled to such small numbers thai
good specimen was worth a consider.
able sum. but the efforts to preserve
the beasts, both wild herds and those
| ia captivity. have resulted in building
them up to the point where All dan
ger of extinction is past Conse-
quently they are not 50 valuable.
Elephants always command a good
price. The last two elephants pur-
chased for the zoo In Washington
were small ones. and $1,000 was paid
I for the pair. A full grown elephant
/ would be worth about this much
money. Elephants rarely breed ir
captivity. but quite a number ars
caught every year in the big elephant
1 drives. BY the way. animal men say
/ the great age attributed 10 elephants
BY fiction writer's is product Of theil
I imaginations. that the average Iength
Of an elephants life is so 10 SO years
and that il is rarely indeed that ar
elephant reaches 100 years.
I It is not an uncommon sight to find
black leopards in ZOOS and circuses
/ Contrary to general belief. this is not
a distinct species. but a sporadic oc-
currence among the big cats. These
are merely meIanistic animals. oc.
curing more frequently among leop-
ards than among the larger .aembers
OF the feline family. The animals
have in their makeup large share OF
/ pigment, and are just the opposite oi
albino types. which completely iach
pigment. There have been cases oi
albino tigers and leopards. There i:
at least one peIt OF a totally black
ktiger in the United States
on the fur Of the leopard, in this
proper light. the outlines of the spot:
may be seen easily. This over-sup-
/ ply Of pigment in some other bird:
and animals is not uncommon, SONS
varieties of hawks often being much
darker than the ordinary color a
their brothers and sisters.
The offspring of a black leopard
/ might all be the usual spotted animals
but in some other kinds Of beasts, b,
careful selection and breeding. most o
the young ones born viii be pigmente'
to such an extent that all win presen
an appearance very different from tn
i original animal. In cne notable in
stance, the darker annals have beel
produced in commercial Quantities, ant
excellent specimens command prices
hundred times as great as the ighte
colored specimens of the breed.
This case is that OF the so-calle,
silver black fox. This fox is exact,
the same fox as the common red one
Occasionally in the United State
among a litter of young foxes a mel
anistic puppy was discovered. and il
sCanada this was more common. Some
/ times some of the young ones woul,
be darker on some parts of the pelt
and this skin is known commercial,
as the cross fox
Breeding Silver Foxes.