Abstract
THE 107th annual report of the Zoological Society of London for 1935 submitted to the annual meeting on April 29 contains records of the breeding of more than fifty species of mammals, twenty birds and five reptiles at Regent's Park, and twenty-seven species of mammals and seven of birds at Whipsnade. The pathological report records that out of an average population of 824 mammals and 1,631 birds, 215 mammals or 26 per cent, the lowest for the past ten years, and 539 birds or 33 per cent, died and were examined by the department. Injuries and accidents accounted for 183 or 20.2 per cent of the deaths, digestive diseases for 142 or 15.6 per cent. and respiratory diseases for 138 or 15.2 per cent. Two monkeys, two antelopes, a wild pig, a hedgehog and a desert cavy died of tuberculosis; twenty-one birds and a reptile of mycosis; nineteen mammals, five birds and three reptiles of rickets and bone diseases; two mammals and thirty-five birds of urinary diseases; seven mammals, twenty-four birds and two reptiles of blood and circulatory diseases. Eight of the birds died of old age, including a snowy egret which had lived nearly fifteen years in the Gardens, and an Indian kite which had lived there more than fourteen years. Four mammals, including the rare okapi, ten birds and nine reptiles died from parasites. A new elephant house to replace the 1869 building is to be completed by 1937, while original ideas to be carried out at Whipsnade include open air collections of chimpanzees and gibbons on islands with growing trees; as these apes will not cross water, visitors will be able to watch them without intervening bars. In a Studio of Animal Art, to be built near the Society's offices, living models of lions, tigers and other creatures will be available for classes of up to twenty-four students.
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Zoological Society of London. Nature 137, 860 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137860b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137860b0