Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-09
PRICED GEOLOGICAL EXHIBIT
PASSES IN DEATH OF TIGER
Siberian Animal Was First
of Kind to Be Shown
in This Country.
Life in Captivity, However,
Regarded Longer Than
in Native Jungle.

OF CTle mOSC picturesque ulndDCdnCS OF
the National Geological Park, is dead.
Four or five years old when he came
to Washington, he was a patriarch of
tigers in captivity. Originally he and
his mate we're the only Siberian tigers
in America, and because of their rarity
were among the most priced of all
geological exhibits.
But now their progeny are widely dis
persed and there is a young, healthy
pair in the Washington collection.
They were good parents and raised cub
most savage of animals, they took
kindly to captivity.
The mate died over year ago and
since then the male tiger had been
showing more and more signs of great
age when he no longer could gnaw
the raw meat which was his diet. His
death has been expected for some
weeks.
Captive Life Long.
While about Is years may seem
ards, said DR.. William M. Mann, Zoo
director, it probably is a very long
life for one of the big cats and is
much longer than one of them would
live in the wild state where, in the
struggle for survival of the fittest,
usually the first signs of approaching
age mean death. No body will bring
food to the weakening patriarch of the
Jungle. If they had retained their
freedom, he says, probably both would
nave been dead fve or six years ago,
whereas in Washington they still were
raising families.
For the most part, says DR.. Mann,
wild animals have a short life, COM
pared with man, especially after they
attain maturity. The exceptions among
mammals are the elephants and pos
sibly some of the great apes, which
might be expected to follow closely the
human process of growing old, although
nobody knows anything about how long
they live outside captivity.
The oldest elephant in America, now
In Cincinnati, he said, has been known
for 85 years and probably is few years
older than that. But, contrary to some
of the legends of the longevity of ele-
plants. he seemed to be near the end
OF his road and shows in every feature
and movement signs of his great age.
Socco Is Old Ape at Is.
Among the anthropoid apes socco,
the chimpanZee at the National Zoo
logical Park, who is now about Is years
old, is one of the most aged of his
species In captivity and probably is on
the shady side of middle age. Few
have survived as long. But considering
the length of the ape period of child
hood" compared to that of creatures
like the big cats 1t would be reasonable
to expect longer adult period. With
few natural enemies in their native
forests they may survive longer the in
roads of old age, but probably the aging
ape has every hand among his own kin
against him in the competition for
food.
N'gi. the gorilla, DR. Mann pointed
out, now is very much a child" in his
fourth year. seems to proceed in his de-
velopment only little faster than
human child and might be expected to
have approximately the human life
span. But hitherto the lives. of all
gorillas in captivity have been cut short
by disease, and nobdy has observed them
in their natural haunts. Some have
said that there is rude sort of family
cooperation among them which might
tend to preserve the lives Of the aged.
AS for the king of beasts, the lion,
his natural age is apparently quite linn
tied, DR.. Mann says, and he probably
survives much longer in ZOOS than in
jungleS. Thirteen or fourteen years is
about the limit thus far observed. The
zoo at Dublin, ireland, DR.. Mann says,
has raised more lions than any other
place in the world. indicating that con-
dftions must be almost ideal for them
there. But it has been impossible to
keep one alive more than IL years there.
Man Has Advantage.
In the progress of growing old, DR.
Mann pointed out man seems to have
a decided advantage over nearly all his
fellow mammals. but the same does not
hold true among birds and reptiles with
their less complicated nervous system
to get out of order. Some birds live
very long lives, and creatures like the
giant turtles at the Zoo seem to live
indefinitely. There is nothing to wear
them out" and the outside limit of
their lives may not be reached for flve
or six hundred years.
The monkey collection at the Zoo was
increased this week by a douracouli and
a It'll. gifts of DR.. Raymond Shannon,
director of the Rockefeller Institute sta
ton for the control of yellow fever, at
Bahia, Brazil. Both these animals, DR..
Shannon said, have been used in eX-
low fever tests.
While they are common in the Bra
lillian iungles they are seldom seen in
captivity because they do not live well.
The It'll is tiny monkey which leaps
about the branches of trees like squir-
rel. The douracouli is also known as
the night monkey and is little fellow
dwelling in hollow trees during the day
and only appearing at night. 1t is
often made a pet. perching on the
shoulders of ladies in the night life of
Brazilian cities.
Presents Rare Kitten.
Dr. Shannon also presented the Zoo
with a Tagurondi kitten, long, slen-
der, almost snakelike cat. which in
habits the Brazilian forests and which
has been lacking in the Zoo collection
for some time
Two rare owls were secured this week
by DR.. Mann from Speedan Lewis, not |
I'd British agriculturalist, who had made |
a hobby of collecting owls, but now is
breaking up his collection. One of these |
was the European eagle owl, the most |
powerful European bird OF prey. The |
NEW GRAND JURY
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