Abstract
The lures of Paris are many. Its latest is a new zoo at Vincennes which should be well worth seeing. Hagenbeck, in Germany, was one of the first to abolish the old and hideous system of keeping birds and beasts in cages. The Zoological Society of London, when Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell took over the reins of government, followed suit, starting with the fine sea-lions pond, and the now famous Mappin Terraces. These last seem to have inspired the director of the new Paris Gardens, Prof. Urbain, and the architect, M. Charles Letrosne, for the dominant feature of the Gardens, we are told, is a towering mass of reinforced concrete, 200 ft. high, shaped and coloured to look like reddish-brown rock, with ledges for sheep, goats, and antelopes. The interior of this mass contains two large reservoirs for the storage of water to supply pools in various parts of the Gardens. In the London Mappin Terraces similar reservoirs supply the wonderful Aquarium-the finest in Europe. Another noteworthy feature of the Paris Gardens is a great aviary giving the birds plenty of room for flying. Occupying an area of about 23 acres, it would seem to be reminiscent of the Gardens of the Zoological Society in London and at Whipsnade, and there is no doubt they will be as much appreciated. The new Gardens occupy the site of the Colonial Exhibition in the Bois de Vincennes. They were opened on June 2 by the President of the Republic, M. Lebrun.
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New Paris Zoo. Nature 133, 863 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133863b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133863b0