All the trees and shrubs in this Garden were extraordinarily backward; scarcely a leaf was out, and as it poured with rain during the whole of my visit of five hours, the outlook could scarcely be called pleasing to the eye.
There was a small house of flamingoes and storks, and in an elephant house were a small Indian elephant and a troupe of performing dogs and monkeys. Here Herr Litz, the celebrated trainer, was performing with a various assortment of animals. In the deer sheds were a pair of cariboo, with a baby a few weeks old, some axis and some wapiti deer.
There were several bird-of-prey aviaries, and in them some beautiful Iceland falcons. A second elephant house contained an enormous Indian elephant. A fine new series of bear pits in red brick was in course of construction. But the best house in the Garden was a really good and new monkey house, very lofty and roomy, with huge plate-glass fronts. In one of the compartments was a young Himalayan bear, together with several monkeys. The outside cages of this house contained trees, ropes, swings, a windmill and a rocking-horse for the amusement of the apes. Altogether I consider this one of the finest and best-appointed monkey houses in Europe.
On the top of what looked like a factory chimney a pair of storks had built their nest in the open air. A house for tropical small birds contained an enormous number of paroquets, and close by was a quaint cone-shaped owl house, with outside and inside cages. There were wild-sheep rockeries, wolves’ dens, and another pond, besides many smaller houses.
This Garden is well worth a visit.
CHAPTER IX
THE GARDENS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ZOOLOGY, ANTWERP: DIRECTOR, M. F. L’HOEST
The Society of Zoology at Antwerp was founded July 21, 1843. The Gardens then consisted of but three and a half acres of land lying outside the old fortifications of the city, for which a capital of 100,000 francs was subscribed. In 1843 Pierre Joseph de Caters was President and M. Jacques Kets was Director. M. François L’Hoest was appointed Director in 1888. The personnel of the Gardens comprises eighty-eight employés. The animals’ food costs 112,000 francs yearly.
During the year 1900 the total receipts (including 152,951 francs taken at the gates) amounted to 31,299,470 francs. In 1900, 32,763,336 francs’ worth of animals were bought and 33,792,396 francs’ worth of animals sold. Public sales are held annually. Fertile poultry eggs are sold at one franc each, guaranteed pure bred; if proved not fertile, they are replaced by others.
The Gardens, which are close to the railway-station, are open from April to September from 6 a.m. to sunset, and from October to March from 7 a.m. to sunset. There are numerous grand concerts. The price of admission to the Gardens is one franc for adults and fifty centimes for children under twelve years. The lions are fed at 5 p.m. in summer, 4 p.m. in winter, and the otters at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.