| LIST OF BEARS IN THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1, 1913. | ||||
| 2 | Polar Bears | Ursus maritimus | from | Ellesmere Land. |
| 2 | Yakutat Bears | Ursus dalli | “ | Alaska. |
| 1 | Peninsula Bear | Ursus gyas | “ | Alaska Peninsula. |
| 1 | Admiralty Bear | Ursus eulophus | “ | Adm. Is., Alaska. |
| 3 | Kadiak Bears | Ursus middendorffi | “ | Kadiak Island. |
| 1 | Kobuk Brown Bear | Undetermined | “ | Kobuk River, AL |
| 1 | Grizzly Bear | Ursus horribilis | “ | Colorado. |
| 1 | ““ | ““ | “ | Yukon Terr. |
| 1 | ““ | ““ | “ | Wyoming. |
| 1 | Spectacled Bear | Ursus ornatus | “ | Equador. |
| 1 | Andean Black Bear | Ursus ornatus thomasi | “ | Columbia, S. A. |
| 1 | Black Bear | Ursus americanus | “ | Pennsylvania. |
| 1 | ““ | ““ | “ | Virginia. |
| 3 | ““ | ““ | “ | Alaska. |
| 1 | ““ | ““ | “ | West Ontario. |
| 1 | ““ | ““ | “ | Mexico. |
| 1 | Cinnamon Bear | ““ | “ | Colorado. |
| 1 | ““ | ““ | “ | Wyoming. |
| 1 | Syrian Bear | Ursus syriacus | “ | Asiatic Turkey. |
| 3 | Brown Bears | Ursus arctos | “ | Central Russia. |
| 2 | Hairy-Eared Bears | Ursus piscator | “ | N. W. Mongolia. |
| 1 | Himalayan Black Bear | Ursus torquatus | “ | Japan. |
| 1 | Japanese Bear | Ursus japonicus | “ | Japan. |
| 1 | Sloth Bear | Ursus labiatus | “ | India. |
| 2 | Yezo Bears | Ursus ferox | “ | Yezo, Japan. |
| 1 | Malay Sun Bear | Ursus malayanus | “ | Borneo. |
| 36 | specimens, representing 18 species. | |||
The Malay Sun Bear, (Ursus malayanus), is the smallest bear in the world, also the ugliest and the most ill-tempered. When fully enraged, it sometimes barks like a dog. Its hair is very short and close, and its head and feet seem to be too large for its body. This species inhabits Borneo, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and Farther India. Two specimens will be found in the Small-Mammal House.
THE RACCOON TREE.
The Raccoon Tree.—A permanent installation for Raccoons has been established near the southern end of the Bear Dens, where its inmates will be near their plantigrade relatives. At the foot of the steps leading down from the Rocking Stone, a cedar-tree, forty feet in height, has been enclosed by an elliptical iron fence provided with a sheet-metal overhang which is not negotiable by any Procyon. Inside the fence is a dry yard, a pool of water for all purposes, and the trunk of the tree is surrounded by a rustic shelter house, divided into ten warm and dry compartments. Underneath the house is a clean and smooth wooden floor, on which the food is served.
The smooth, horizontal limbs of a cedar-tree are grateful and comforting to a dozing Raccoon, and the tree is not so high that the animals can climb beyond the visual power of the visitor.
THE BEAVER POND, No. 29.
Hidden away in the deep valley between high hills of virgin forest lies the Beaver Pond. The spot is so secluded, so silent and primeval, that it seems like the heart of the Adirondack wilderness. Lying fairly in the lap of the granite hills is a three-acre oval of level swamp, which recently was full of woodland rubbish and choked by rank weeds. The seclusion of the spot, the splendid forest, the food-wood and the possibilities of the dam, all naturally suggested the beaver.
In order that the building of a dam by the beavers would not raise the water level so high as to flood the roots of a number of fine forest trees and destroy them, two feet of soil was taken out of the swamp, and at the same time a broad outlet was excavated. A fence of small iron bars, with an overhang, was designed to encircle an area of about three acres. Within the enclosure thus made, stand several large forest trees—chiefly oak, sweet gum, and maple—which have been protected by guards of wire and corrugated iron. The small maples, however, have been given over to the beavers, to cut down and use as food-wood and also in their dam-building operations.
The Beaver Colony in our pond is in good working order, and its display of work makes a highly satisfactory exhibit. The dam, about 40 feet long and 4 feet high, was built of poles and sticks which were cut, peeled, floated down and placed by the beavers, and pointed up with mud. There is a house 10 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, similarly constructed. Within the enclosure about twenty saplings and trees have been cut down by the beavers and used up for food and building materials.
For this colony the Society is indebted to Mr. Hugh J. Chisholm, who procured for it two specimens from Canada and three from Maine.