In our Zoological Park, day by day and hour by hour our people carry into practical effect their knowledge of the psychology of our mammals, birds and reptiles. In view of the work that we have done during the past twenty-one years of the Park's history, we do not need to apologize for claiming to know certain definite things about wild animal minds. It is my belief that nowhere in the world is there in one place so large an aggregation of dangerous beasts, birds and reptiles as ours. And yet accidents to our keepers from them have been exceedingly few, and all have been slight save four.
Twenty-five years ago I endeavored to plan for the Zoological Society the most humane and satisfactory bear dens on earth. Fortunately we knew something about bears, both wild and captive. Never before have we written out the exact motif of those dens, but it is easily told. We endeavored to give each bear the following things:
A very large and luxurious den, open to the sky, and practically on a level with the world;
Perfect sanitation;
A great level playground of smooth concrete;
High, sloping rocks to climb upon when tired of the level floor;
A swimming pool, always full and always clean;
Openwork steel partitions between cages, to promote sociability and cheerfulness;
Plenty of sunlight, but an adequate amount of shade;
Dry and dark sleeping dens with wooden floors, and