Published by

Friends of the National Zoo

National Zoological Park

Washington, D.C. 20009

Phones:

Executive Director and membership:

232-4500

Educational and Editorial offices:

232-5500

Guided tours: 332-9322

Window Shop: 232-4555

FONZ Board of Directors 1972-1973

Peter C. Andrews, President

Theodore Babbitt

Amy Block

Montgomery S. Bradley

John S. Brown

Timothy V. A. Dillon

Montgomery S. Bradley

John S. Brown

Mary H. L. Clark

Timothy V.A. Dillon

Donna K. Grosvenor

Stephen Hosmer

Joan L. Jewett

Robert Mason

Isabel J. McDonnell

Shirley J. McNair

Lavelle Merritt

Ruth N. Nelson

John B. Oliver

Mary Poole

Nancy Porter

Gerald G. Wagner

Rosa M. Walker

Richardson White, Jr.

Executive Director

Warren J. Iliff

Editor: Austin Hughes

Design and Production by Tom Jones

Special thanks to Dr. Helmut K. Buechner,

Smithsonian Senior Ecologist, for photo-

graphs on pages 21 and 23. Front and

back cover photos and photos on pages 3

and 19 by Margaret White. Photograph on

page 5 by Dick Hofmeister. Photograph

on page 8 by Donna Grosvenor. Photo-

graph on page 10 by W. K. Howser. All

other photos by Cathy Rasenberger.

CONTENTS

A Tree Kangaroo in the Pouch

Zoo News — Mammals

Zoo News — Birds

Zoo Map |

Zoo News — Reptiles and Amphibians

The Great Indian Rhinoceros

Friends

the :

National

The Friends of the National Zoo is a non-profit

organization of individuals and families who

frequently visit the National Zoo and who are

interested in supporting its growth and develop-

ment, particularly in the areas of education,

conservation, and scientific research.

As members of the Friends, you and your family

will be given benefits that will make your zoo-

going more enjoyable and educational.

For more information and a membership appli-

cation, please call 232-4500 or 232-5500.

THE ZOOGOER is published bi-monthly

and copyrighted © by Friends of the National

Zoo, c/o National Zoological Park, Washington,

D.C. 20009. second-class mailing permit

approved at Washington, D.C. Rate

in the United States $3 a year.

On October 31st, 1972, keepers at the Lion

House (number 23 on map) noticed that one

of the female Matschie’s tree kangaroos on

exhibit there had an infant in her pouch.

The infant — or “‘joey”’ as the young of

kangaroos are called in the Australian ver-

nacular — was then still in an extremely

undeveloped state. Gradually, as weeks

went by, the bulge in the mother’s pouch

became obvious; and by the middle of

December the infant had begun to put its

head out of the pouch occasionally. In

addition, another of the Zoo’s female tree

kangaroos gave birth in late December or

early January.

Young of this species — like the young of

other species of the kangaroo family — are

blind, deaf, and entirely hairless at birth.

Weighing only a fraction of an ounce, they

are in an almost completely embryonic stage

of development. Only a pair of very mus-

cular forearms, strong claws on each of the

five fingers of the hands, and a keen sense

of smell are notably developed; and it is on

these three comparatively well-developed

characters that the newborn tree kangaroo

must rely to find its way from the vaginal —

opening into the pouch. It must make this

journey entirely without aid from its

mother, hoisting itself along through her fur

by means of its forepaws only. At birth its

hind limbs are still much smaller than the

forelimbs and lack any claws, and the infant

must evidently rely solely on its sense of

smell to direct it to its eventual goal — a

nipple inside its mother’s pouch to which it

will attach itself for the next several months

of its life.

Once inside the pouch, the joey takes hold of

one of the four teats with its mouth. The

teat swells up inside the mouth so that it

would be difficult to remove the young

kangaroo without causing injury to it and to

its mother. While the infant is in the pouch,

the mother must clean the inside of the

pouch regularly with her mouth in order to

remove the infant’s waste products. As she

does so, she often holds the pouch open with

her forepaws. Observing such behavior on the

part of a female kangaroo is one of the ways

zookeepers have of telling that she has an

infant in the pouch before the infant is large

enough to produce a noticeable swelling.

The Zoo’s tree kangaroos belong to a species

known as Matschie’s tree kangaroo (Dendro-

lagus matschiei) which is native to eastern

New Guinea. This is one of five species of

tree kangaroo, all members of the genus

Dendrolagus; two of these occur on the

Australian continent, and three are found in

New Guinea. This distribution may seem

somewhat problematic until one realizes

that during the Pliocene epoch of the earth’s

history, which lasted from ten million years

ago to about one million years ago, New

Guinea was connected by a land bridge to

Australia. And it is believed that it was

sometime towards the close of the Pliocene

that the Dendro/agus \ine clearly differen-

tiated itself from the more typical, terrestrial

branches of the kangaroo family. (The parma

wallabies that share the tree kangaroo’s en-

closure at the Lion House are good examples

of the terrestrial kangaroos.)

Moreover, the northern Queensland areas

where tree kangaroos are found are ecologi-

cally quite distinct from the rest of Australia.

That island continent is characterized by its

arid open areas and its temperate climate,

but on its northern coast there are tropical

forests that are quite reminiscent of the

tropical forests that dominate New Guinea.

In fact, the tree kangaroos are only one of

several unique groups of animals that are

limited to both of these forested areas.

Another group of arboreal marsupials, the

cuscuses (genus Phalanger), are also found

only in New Guinea and in the forests of

Northern Australia, as also are the large

flightless forest birds known as cassowaries.

(The National Zoo has four double wattled

cassowaries, located behind the Bird House,

number 6h on map.) \t is theorized that

when New Guinea was connected to Australia,

it was the abundant fruit and leaves in this

same sort of tropical forest that led the an-

cestors of tree kangaroos to abandon the

terrestrial grazing habits they shared with the

kangaroos of the open country to the south

and experiment with an arboreal life.

Interestingly, it is believed that the original

ancestors of all kangaroos were arboreal; like

the oppossum, they seem to have had pre-

hensile tails and big toes adapted for grasping

branches. The kangaroos lost these features

when they adapted to life on the ground; and,

in what was in effect a return to the trees,

the tree kangaroos did not regain them. In

fact, the tree kangaroos succeeded in accom-

plishing the shift in ecological niche with

relatively little modification of the basic

kangaroo structure.

The tail, of course, changed somewhat. No

longer used as a prop or ‘‘third leg”’ in the

typical kangaroo fashion, it has taken on a

new kind of balancing function. By virtue of

the fact that the thickly furred tail, hanging

straight down below the branch, lowers the

animal’s center of gravity considerably, it

serves to steady the tree kangaroo as it

climbs. The tail also functions as a kind of

rudder in the long leaps the tree kangaroo

makes from branch to branch or from the

branches to the ground. Leaps from one

branch to a lower one by tree kangaroos

have been estimated at up to 30 feet, and

tree kangaroos have been reported to leap as

much as 60 feet from a branch to the ground

without injury. Another change is that the

claws on the forepaws have become larger

and stronger for holding onto branches and

the bark of tree trunks. As in the other

kangaroos, the forepaws are still used to

take hold of food; in the wild they are used

to pick leaves and fruit, and the Zoo’s tree

kangaroos use them to pick up the apples,

sweet potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and other

vegetable foods on which they are fed.

Although the tree kangaroos progress by

means of typically kangaroo-like hops when

moving along wide horizontal branches and

when on the ground, the hind legs and hind

feet have become smaller relative to the fore-

limbs than they are in the other kangaroos.

They are equipped with rough-skinned,

cushion-like soles to prevent slipping. As in

the other kangaroos, the second and third

toes of the hind feet are fused; but each still

has a separate claw. These two claws forma

kind of comb which the animal uses to groom

the fur of its flanks, back, and head in an

amusing but quite efficient manner.

One interesting trait of the tree kangaroos is

that the hair on the nape of the neck grows

in a reverse direction. Apparently this

enables the animal to shed water during

tropical rainstorms if it sits with its head

lowered in the slouching posture the Zoo’s

tree kangaroos so often assume. This rain-

shedding device provides particularly impor-

tant protection when the tree kangaroo is

sleeping. Reportedly nocturnal in the wild,

tree kangaroos sleep during the day with the

body bent so far forward that the head is

tucked between the hind legs.

Like the Zoo’s tree kangaroo group, tree

kangaroo breeding units in the wild are com-

posed of a single adult male, several adult

females, and young offspring in the pouch or

recently emerged from the pouch. However,

regrettably little is known of the breeding

biology of any of the Dendrolagus species.

For instance, in spite of the fact that several

of the species have bred in zoos, the exact

length of the gestation period has not been

determined for any of them. National Zoo

scientists have estimated the gestation period

for Matschie’s tree kangaroo at about 32

days. This estimation is based on the fact

that one of the Zoo’s females was observed

mating with the male on March 8, 1971, and

32 days later was seen carefully cleaning her

pouch. Since pouch-grooming prior to birth

has been observed in many other kangaroo

genera and since the female showed such

other signs of impending parturition as an

apparent desire for solitude, it is believed

that she gave birth within 24 hours of the

time when she was seen cleaning her pouch.

Thirty-two days — while, of course, very

brief compared to the gestation periods of

placental mammals — is about the length one

might expect for the gestation period of tree

kangaroos. In five species of wallabies similar

_in size to the tree kangaroos, the gestation

period ranges from 28 to 38 days.

The National Zoo started its tree kangaroo

colony with one male and two females in May

of 1970. On July 12, the male was observed

mating with one of the females; and she

apparently gave birth that August, although

at the time the birth went unnoticed. Starting

in late October, the female began cleaning her

pouch several times a week, sometimes placing

her entire head inside it as she did so. This

behavior seemed to indicate that she had a

joey, so keepers watched closely for further

signs. By December, movements of the joey

in the pouch were frequently observed, and

the pouch had begun to sag noticeably.

However, when a keeper attempted to feel

for the presence of a joey with his hand, the

mother was able to contract the pouch so

that it appeared empty.

By the middle of January, 1971, the joey

produced a swelling about the size of a base-

ball. It was almost two months later that

its tail — which at the time was about six

inches long and unfurred — was seen protrud-

ing from the pouch; a month later a fully

furred leg was seen thrust out of the pouch.

By May the infant was often seen putting its

head and two thirds of its body out of the

pouch and eating some solid food. During

June it began to leave the pouch and return

at will. When it was a year old, the young

tree kangaroo spent most of its time outside

of the pouch but still entered it to nurse. At

the end of September, it was still nursing

occasionally; but it was too large to re-enter

the pouch and put only its head in to nurse.

That infant proved to be a female, as was the

next tree kangaroo born at the National Zoo,

the mother of which was the second of the

original two females. The first-born female

is now an adult herself. She was observed

mating with the male on November 27th and

28th, 1972; so, by now, she should have a

joey in the pouch. The other current joey

was born to the female that gave birth to the

Zoo’s second-born tree kangaroo; this female

can be distinguished by the fact that she had

more white on her ears than the other females.

The development of both of these infants

should parallel that of the Zoo’s first-born

tree kangaroo joey, although the older one

seems to be putting its head out of the pouch

at an earlier age than that joey did. With this

infant growing rapidly and another infant in

the Zoo-born female’s pouch, visitors to the

Lion House in the next several months should

be able to observe simultaneously two differ-

ent stages in the growth of the young of this

fascinating species.

One of the Zoo’s muntjac (number 3c on map).

Muntjac Fawns

In November a female muntjac was born to

one of the three adult females in the Zoo’s

herd (number 3c on map). ~The fawn was

born outdoors in the muntjacs’ yard, where

she remained motionless for approximately

the first 24 hours of her life. Then, as soon

as she was able to walk, she was led by her

mother into the house at the rear of the

enclosure where she remained for about

three weeks. Thereafter the fawn could

sometimes be seen following her mother

about the yard; her coat was spotted with

white as it was for the first two months of life.

Muntjac are an unusual and rather primitive

group of very small deer characteristic of

the forests of east and southeast Asia. The

male’s antlers are short and relatively incon-

spicuous; although, like the antlers of larger

deer, they are grown and shed each year, the

hair-covered pedicels on which they grow

are as long as the antlers themselves and pro-

trude from the forehead year round. The

females too, although they do not grow

antlers, have vestigial bony knobs on their

foreheads. The adult male that is the Zoo’s

herd sire and the father of the latest-born

fawn is carrying a fully developed set of

antlers at this writing.

Although the antlers may sometimes play a

minor role in fights among male muntjac at

mating season, the males rely much more

heavily in these combats on their greatly

elongated canine teeth. These conspicuous

tusks, which the animal can evidently move

to some extent, may also come in handy in

defense against predators. The somewhat

smaller tusks found in the female are probably

used primarily for defense.

Muntjac are sometimes known as “‘barking

deer.”’ Their alarm calls are surprisingly loud

and similar to the barking of dogs. Similar

vocalizations probably serve other functions

as well; perhaps for instance, they preserve

spacing among muntjac in the wild. One of

the Zoo’s females barks virtually every

evening shortly after dark, and this behavior

may suggest a spacing function.

The National Zoo currently has nine muntjac

in its herd, four males and five females. Six

of these, including three females and three

young males, were born here to two different

mothers. The elder of these two females

(which can be distinguished by a white spot

on her forehead) is the mother of the Novem-

ber fawn and also of the other breeding fe-

male. This second breeding female, inciden-

tally, gave birth to another female fawn on

January 3, 1973.

Giant Panda News

As many National Zoo visitors have discovered,

the Zoo’s two giant pandas (number 70 on

map) are asleep for much of the day. On

most mornings when the weather is good, the

pandas are active in their outdoor yards

between about 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. They are

fed at 9:30 and continue to be active until

about 11:00. Then they sleep until between

an hour and an hour and a half before their

4:00 p.m. feeding. Given this long midday

nap, it was with great interest that National

Zoo scientists recently learned that the

pandas are quite active at night.

Friends of the National Zoo volunteers were

called on to determine exactly what Hsing-

Hsing and Ling-Ling do after Zoo closing

time. Observations were made on the amount

of time the pandas spend sleeping, playing,

feeding, and scent-marking during the night.

The pandas turned out to be a good deal

more active at night than had previously

been suspected, and when zoologists collated

the data they discovered some interesting

patterns.

Both animals tended to have their activity

peak between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., but

the male (“‘Hsing-Hsing’’) tended to wake up

earlier. He ate mainly between 6:00 p.m. and

11:00 p.m., whereas the female ate mainly

between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. As regards

play, on the other hand, the two animals were

remarkably synchronized; between 10:00

p.m. and midnight both Hsing-Hsing and the

female, Ling-Ling, spent a large amount of

their time playing. It was found, however,

that the male scent-marked with the glands

under his tail far more frequently than the

female did; he had not been expected to

scent-mark so frequently nor the female to

scent-mark so infrequently.

Incidentally, analysis of recent data has

brought another new fact about the pandas

to light. It seems that when the pandas are in

their outdoor yards between 8:00 and 9:00

a.m. on most mornings, both of them are

spending increasing amounts of time near

the wire-mesh fence that separates their

two enclosures. It is impossible at present

to determine what effect this apparent pre-

ference for each other’s company will have

on the pair’s chances for breeding success 2 : , 2

when they reach sexual maturity; but it is a Some nocturnal behavior on the part of the giant

fact that the male has shown a marked in- pandas (number 10 on map).

crease in the tendency to seek out the female

in the past two months and that he seeks her

out twice as frequently as she does him.

Lesser Panda Cubs

It will be of interest to regular Zoo visitors

to know that the lesser panda cubs born here

last June are regularly visible. It was expected

that the cubs, a male and a female, would

frequently emerge from their den by the

time they were two months old; but, in fact,

a much longer time elapsed before the two

were to be seen in the lesser pandas’ enclo-

sure (number 16 on map) with any regularity.

The colder weather — approximating that in

the lesser panda’s high-altitude homeland —

and the absence of large crowds of visitors in

the winter are probably additional reasons,

besides the cubs’ age and increasing self-

confidence, for their greater visibility.

The cubs are now identical to their parents

in coloration, but they are smaller and a great

deal more frisky. Until recently, they were

most frequently seen in close association

with their mother; but now they are seen

with their father or by themselves much

more frequently than before. The reason for

this change seems to be that the cubs are

being weaned. At the lesser pandas’ 8:30

a.m. and 3:30 p.m. feeding times, the cubs

can often be seen eating such solid foods as

apples and bamboo. Keepers are watching

closely at this crucial period of the young

animals’ lives to make certain that, once the

pair are fully weaned, their father’s parental

tolerance is not replaced by an attempt to

eject them from his territory as he would do

with any other adult lesser pandas.

One of the Zoo’s two lesser panda cubs (number 16

on map).

Bear Mothers

As this magazine goes to press, females of three

species of bears are believed likely to give birth

this winter. In addition, the female European

brown bear (Ursus arctos) gave birth on

January 12th. This female (‘‘Anna’’) has

given birth to ten litters —a total of 26 cubs —

since 1960. She has been sequestered in an

inner den at the rear of the European brown

bears’ enclosure (number 25a on map). The

practice of confining the mother — as is done

with most expectant female bears at the Zoo —

is in keeping with a wild bear mother’s habit

of retiring to aden in order to give birth and

ensures that the cubs are safe from possible

attack by the male. Anna’s cubs, which

number two or three per litter, have always

been born between the 10th and the 16th of

January; and by February, Zoo visitors should

be able to hear this year’s cubs’ high-pitched

vocalizations emerging from the den.

It is believed that both female polar bears

(Thalarctos martimus) and, quite possibly, a

female sloth bear (Me/ursus ursinus) and a fe-

male spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) are

also pregnant. The female polar bears’ possible

pregnancies have necessitated some unusual

rearrangements in the bear den area; one has

been moved to the cage (number 25j on map)

usually occupied by the American black bear

“Smokey.” The front of the cage has been

boarded up and the sidewalk in front of it

blocked off in order to ensure that the ex-

pecting polar bear (‘“‘Snowstar’’) is not dis-

turbed. The other female is meanwhile being

kept in the cubbing den at the rear of the

polar bear cage (number 25d on map).

Sloth bears, which are native to forested areas

in India and Ceylon, have bred well at the

National Zoo in the past; in fact, the male of

the Zoo’s current pair was born here in 1966.

The female, however, was received in August,

1971; and if she gives birth this year, it will

be the first time for her. She has been placed

in an enclosure separate from the male’s

(number 18d on map) and provided with

straw bedding for her cubbing den. A birth

of one of these unusual bears is always inter-

esting because of their unique form of

maternal care; the young frequently ride on

the mother’s back, clinging to her long fur.

The spectacled bear is the only South Ameri-

can bear, and many authorities believe that

it may be an endangered species in the wild.

Once common in forests throughout the

Andes chain, it is now apparently limited to

Ecuador and Peru. The National Zoo’s

female (number 25g on map) is a young

animal. She arrived as a young cub in 1965

and has reached sexual maturity only recent-

ly. If she gives birth this year, it will be the

first time this species has produced offspring

at the National Zoo and one of a very small

number of births in the world’s zoos.

Rat Kangaroos given a companion of his own species as soon

New at the Lion House (number 23 on map) as possible.

are a pair of long-nosed rat kangaroos

(Potorous tridactylus). These tiny kangaroos,

located on the floor of the cage the upper Princess Dies

portion of which is occupied by two-toed The National Zoo’s beloved lioness, “‘Princess,”’

sloths, join the tree kangaroos, parma walla- died on January 3rd. Princess had been at |

bies, and wombats to form a diverse and in- the National Zoo since 1953 and had given

teresting assemblage of marsupials on exhibit birth to 25 cubs by her mate Caesar, who

in that building. The female of the pair of died in 1968. There are no plans to replace

rat kangaroos was formerly on exhibit at the Princess until after the remodelling of the

Small Mammal House; she was moved to her Lion House that is scheduled to inaugurate

new quarters when a mate was acquired for the Zoo’s new Master Plan. Another sad

her this past November. loss was the accidental death of one of the

two orangutan twins born here in December,

Also known as potoroos, long-nosed rat 1971

kangaroos were once common in damp and

swampy areas on the southeast coast of

Australia; through the agency of introduced

predators, they have nearly been exterminated

on the Australian mainland. They are still

fairly numerous on Tasmania, however. In

the wild potoroos are nocturnal, sleeping

during the day in nests of grasses and leaves

built in shallow holes dug in the ground.

They emerge only after dark and spend the

night traveling on well-worn trails through

the underbrush, stopping occasionally to

feed on roots, tender leaves, and fruit. The

Zoo’s pair likewise sleep most of the day in

the nest-box that has been provided for them;

in the later afternoon, however, they are

frequently active.

This genus is one of the most primitive in the

kangaroo family. The hind legs and feet are

not as developed as in some of the other

terrestrial kangaroos, and potoroos frequently

progress on all four feet rather than by means

of the typical kangaroo hops and leaps. Some

accounts have stated that they “gallop’’ quad-

rupedally when pursued. Still another primi- :

tive characteristic is that they do not use the | se _

forepaws to take food to the mouth as fre- | :

quently as the other kangaroos do.

Young Gorilla Sent to Bronx Zoo

Mgeni-Mopaya, the gorilla born in May, 1972,

at the National Zoo was sent on loan in late

January to the Bronx Zoo. The reason Mopie,

as the male infant was nicknamed by its keep-

ers, was sent away after a short time on exhi-

bit at the Small Mammal House was that the

Bronx Zoo has a young gorilla born in Octo-

ber with which he will be raised. Mopie’s own

mother was unable to raise him, and it is be-

lieved that his chances of growing into a nor-

mal gorilla adult will be far greater if he is

The burrowing owls are located at the Bird House

(number 5 on map).

Burrowing Owl

Breeding Success Continues

The Zoo’s adult pair of burrowing owls

(Speotyto cunicularia) hatched their first

clutch of eggs in late June, 1972. No sooner

were these four young owls grown than their

mother laid another clutch, consisting of five

eggs, which hatched on November 6th. These

five young were themselves removed from the

enclosure to off-exhibit quarters in mid-

December, when yet another clutch, consist-

ing of six eggs, was found in one of the bur-

row nests in the owls’ cage at the Bird House

(number 5 on map). These eggs hatched in

mid-January, and the young owls were expec-

ted to be highly active and visible a month

later.

This species, famous for its habit of nesting

in burrows abandoned by other animals,

is found throughout Central and South

America, in Florida, and in the Western

United States. There are a number of sub-

species; one of these — the western U.S. race

— js listed as endangered by the Department

of the Interior. Owls of this race are most

frequently found in abandoned burrows on

the outskirts of prairie dog towns. Unfor-

tunately, as prairie land is increasingly used

for agriculture, the prairie dog towns are

disappearing and with them the burrowing

owls. The rodents have often been poisoned

and their burrows sealed, while feral cats

have preyed on the owls and further de-

creased their numbers.

Black-Necked Swan Cygnets

Three black-necked swans (Cygnus mel/ano-

coryphus) were hatched at the waterfowl

ponds (number 30c on map) on January 17.

The downy gray young could swim directly

after hatching, but one or more could often be

seen riding on its mother’s back or, occasional-

ly, on its father’s back. The cygnet — as the

young of swans are called — would climb up to

this position without assistance from the par-

ent. When the young reach the age of three or

four months, their grayish plumage will be

shed and replaced by the black neck, white

body, and red bill of the adult.

A 3 OMAP

. Connecticut Avenue pedestrian entrance

. Connecticut Avenue vehicular entrance

Deer and antelope areas (a-j)

Great Flight Cage

Bird House

Pheasant and crane line (a-r)

. Raptor cages (a-d)

. Delicate-hoofed stock building (a-c)

. Hardy-hoofed stock complex (a-i)

. Panda House (a-c)

SOMNOOARWN=

oma

. Elephant House

. Water birds (a-e)

. Hawks and owls (a-c)

. Goat mountain areas (a-e)

. Small Mammal Building

. Lesser Pandas

. Prarie dogs

. Bears and monkeys (a-m)

. Reptile House

. Tortoise yard

. Monkey House

. Hardy Animals (a-o)

. Lion House

. Komodo Dragon

. Bears (a-j)

. Water animals (a-e)

. Sea Lion pool

. Wolves, foxes, and wild dogs (a-!)

. Lesser Cats

. Waterfowl ponds (a-d)

. Police Station—Restrooms—F irst Aid

. Restaurant

. Picnic Area

. Window Shop

. Rock Creek Parkway entrance

. Friends of the National Zoo Offices

. FONZ Education, Editorial, and Tour

Guide Offices

Telephone

Restrooms

Trackless Train Stops

Parking

yes)

Mh Soo, 22' 22

7COMAP

. Connecticut Avenue pedestrian entrance

SCOMNOTAWDN =

Connecticut Avenue vehicular entrance

Deer and antelope areas (a-})

. Great Flight Cage

Bird House

. Pheasant and crane line (a-r)

. Raptor cages (a-d) :

. Delicate-hoofed stock building (a-c)

. Hardy-hoofed stock complex (a-i)

. Panda House (a-c)

. Elephant House

. Water birds (a-e)

. Hawks and owls (a-c)

. Goat mountain areas (a-e)

. Small Mammal Building

. Lesser Pandas

. Prarie dogs

. Bears and monkeys (a-m)

. Reptile House

. Tortoise yard

. Monkey House

. Hardy Animals (a-o)

. Lion House

. Komodo Dragon

. Bears (a-j)

. Water animals (a-e)

. sea Lion pool

. Wolves, foxes, and wild dogs (a-l)

. Lesser Cats

. Waterfowl ponds (a-d)

. Police Station—Restrooms—First Aid

. Restaurant

. Picnic Area

. Window Shop

. Rock Creek Parkway entrance

. Friends of the National Zoo Offices

. FONZ Education, Editorial, and Tour

Guide Offices

yes)

Telephone

Restrooms

Trackless Train Stops

Parking

Lesser Green Broadbill Exhibit

Cage 18 at the Bird House (number 5 on

map) has been liberally festooned with

Spanish moss in hopes that the lesser green

broadbills (Ca/yptomena viridis) there will

nest. The female was observed showing an

apparent interest in gathering nesting

materials; so members of other non-terrestrial

species were quickly removed from the

exhibit, and the Spanish moss was added on

the theory that it would provide an excellent

material from which to construct one of the

elaborate hanging nests for which this Bornean

and Malaysian species is famous.

The broadbill’s nest is a pear-shaped structure

woven out of leaves, grasses, mosses, and

vines and suspended from a branch; hanging

from the bottom of the nest there is also a

streamer or “‘tail’’ that may be three feet long.

Usually the nest hangs over water, and it is

hoped that the running water in the Zoo’s

broadbills’ enclosure will provide an added

stimulus for nesting.

The broadbills are a family of fourteen

species of birds of the tropical forests of the

Old World. They are considered the most

primitive family of the great order of perching

birds (Passeriformes), which contains some

5100 species — well over half of all known

species of birds. Most broadbills are insecti-

vorous; but the lesser green broadbill and

other members of its genus feed mainly, or

perhaps exclusively, on fruit.

Lesser green broadbill at the Bird House (number

5 on map).

A male giant pitta puffs out his feathers as an

aggressive gesture.

Giant Pitta Nest

Visitors to the Indoor Flight Room at the

Bird House (number 5 on map) will notice

on their left just as they walk through the

front door of the room a large pile nest on

top of a tree stump. This nest was built by a

pair of giant pittas (Pitta caerulea). These are

relatively large ground-dwelling birds; the

male is turquoise on his back, wings, and

tail, and has an off-white breast, while the

female’s back and wings are brown and only

her tail feathers turquoise. Unfortunately,

for reasons that are not entirely clear, the

nesting attempt seems at present to have been

unsuccessful. But there is still hope that the

birds will breed successfully, if not this year

then next year; and much interesting behavior

apparently associated with breeding can still

be observed.

There are two giant pitta males in the Indoor

Flight Room, one of which formed a breeding

pair with the female and helped her build the

nest. This male (which is somewhat larger and

is banded on his left leg) was also once seen

mounting the female. At times the other

male would approach or even enter the nest;

and, when the proprietor male returned,

there would frequently be spirited chases

along the ground near the nest. Even now,

when the two males meet, they exchange

agonistic signals. The paired male puffs out

his breast feathers and often bows low, in

profile to the other male. The other male also

puffs out his breast feathers but continues to

stand upright. The one male’s bowing is not

submissive but in fact constitutes the more

aggressive threat of the two postures, as can

be deduced from the fact that it resembles

_ the position the bird would assume if about

_ to attack the other bird.

The sequence of behavior associated with

breeding on the part of the giant pittas began

~ when the female laid a broken egg on the

- ground. Then the nest-building started; and

it appeared as if all was going well until one

morning an African black crake (Limnocorax

flavirostra) was found on the nest. For several

days thereafter, the pittas stayed away from

the nest, apparently frightened off by the

intruder. Later they again returned to the

nest and exhibited new forms of behavior

that seemed to indicate breeding success was

imminent. For instance, the male of this

ordinarily silent species was heard calling for

the first time. His call was a beautiful clear

whistle, and the female, feeding in another

part of the room, would often return his

call. Then, suddenly, the calling ceased, and

the birds began to frequent the nest less and

less.

So perhaps we will have to wait till next fall

for a successful breeding of this interesting

species. But zoo visitors can still see the

pitta’s large, apparently disorderly nest, con-

structed just as it would be in the lowland

forests of Sumatra and Borneo, and notice

the carefully concealed entrance that leads

down into its spacious inner chamber.

New Waterfowl Exhibit

New exhibits at the waterfowl ponds, due to

be installed by February 15, initiate the Zoo’s

revitalized interpretation program. The high-

lights of the new exhibits are six colorful

panels (number 30a on map) illustrating the

vital interconnection that has existed between

man and members of this unique family of

birds for thousands of years and ‘something of

the birds’ own fascinating biology.

Graphics will illustrate the manifold inter-

dependences of man and waterfowl in the

areas of art, recreation, economics, and con-

servation. An historical panel will illustrate

the legend of the sacred geese in Juno’s temple

at Rome that saved Rome from attack by

means of their alarm calls. A replica of a

seal from the reinternment robe of the 7th

century, A.D., St. Cuthbert will be accom-

panied by a description of his role in the

establishment of the first bird sanctuary in

the modern sense, and a reproduction of an

18th dynasty Egyptian fresco of a waterfowl

hunt will show the role these birds played in

both the economy and the art of that ancient

civilization.

One panel will illustrate the wild progenitors

of our domestic waterfowl — the mallard

duck and the greylag goose — and some of

the many varieties that man has produced

from these ancestral species by selective

breeding, while others tell the story of man‘s

commercial overexploitation of waterfowl

and the eventual conservation measures that

saved this great natural resource from destruc-

tion. One species mentioned is the Hawaiian

goose or néné, which is represented in the

Zoo’s collection. This species, while not yet

entirely assured of survival, has been increased

from a mere handful primarily through breed-

ing in zoos and private collections. The

National Zoo, incidentally, hopes to aid in

this world-wide effort; and its nénés have laid

eggs this winter.

An added touch will be a series of five beauti-

fully carved and hand-painted sculptures de-

tailing the mating procedures of the mallard

duck. These postures can be observed every

spring on the Zoo’s waterfowl ponds among

the wild mallards that stop there; analogous

rituals — many with interesting variations sug-

gestive of complex evolutionary relationships

— can be observed among the more exotic

waterfowl in the Zoo’s collection. The artist

who produced these sculptures, Mr. Jonathon

Jones of St. Petersburg, Florida, has also

made smaller carvings for all of the identifica-

tion labels in the waterfowl area (number

30a-d on map). These will be enclosed in five

plexiglass cases, which will be transparent on

all sides so that, while looking at the label,

Zoo visitors will be able to look through the

back of the case and locate the bird it

identified on the pond.

Smokey jungle frog at the Reptile House (number

19 on map).

New Frog Exhibits

Two new species of frogs are on exhibit in

the F Section of the Reptile House (number

19 on map). One is the large smokey jungle

frog of South America (Leptodactylus

pentadactylus). Sometimes called ‘‘South

American bullfrogs,”’ these frogs are actually

not closely related to the true bullfrogs; they

are mainly terrestrial, often living in well-

marked dens. The other new species is the

Cuban tree frog (Hy/a septentrionalis); native

to Cuba and the West Indies, this species has

been introduced into southern Florida. Like

other tree frogs, they have suction cups on

their toes which enable them to cling not

only to tree trunks but also, as the Zoo’s

four frequently demonstrate, to glass or metal.

_In addition, a bullfrog tadpole exhibit has

been added to the F section. Bullfrogs remain

in the tadpole stage a good deal longer than

most other frogs; it usually takes 14 to 16

months for a bullfrog tadpole to metamor-

phose into an adult, and it may take three

years. The Cuban treefrog, on the other

hand, lays its eggs in temporary pools of

water, and it has had to evolve a much quicker

development. Interestingly, recent evidence

suggests that in amphibians the ability to

metamorphose quickly is associated with

relatively small amount of DNA — the chemi-

cal carrier of genetic information — in the

nuclei of the cells.

The smokey jungle frog further illustrates the

diversity of means of reproduction that

characterizes the frogs and toads. Members

of this species lay their eggs in frothy bubble

nests. When the young hatch, they eat the

nest and it provides valuable nourishment

for them.

ros

lan

liThe Great |

Ino

The great Indian one-horned rhinoceros

(Rhinoceros unicornis) is one of the rarest of

all large mammals. There are perhaps as few

as 250 members of this species still existing

in the wild in India and Nepal, and there are

only about 50 of them in the world’s zoos.

The National Zoo is fortunate to have an

adult pair; and it is with great pleasure that

the Zoo is able to report that its Indian

rhinos appear to have bred successfully this

past September. In accordance with the

Indian rhino’s phenomenally long gestation

period, a birth is expected in late January

1974.

As recently as the Middle Ages, the Indian

rhinoceros was found in much of the northern

half of the Indian subcontinent and as far

east as Indochina. Gradually it was extermin-

ated in most of this range as a result of two

factors. One was increased human settlement

and cultivation of the alluvial plains that

seem to have been the Indian rhino’s preferred

habitat. In addition, the rhinos have been

persecuted for centuries because of the role

played by various parts of their bodies — par-

ticularly the horn — in magic and folk medi-

cine. The latter pressure increased markedly

with the arrival of firearms in the last century

and gave rise to a fantastically lucrative com-

merce in rhinoceros products that, in spite of

protective measures, continues to this day.

The world’s four other rhinoceros species

have suffered diminution for similar reasons,

and none of them can be considered entirely

free from danger. The African black rhinoceros

(Diceros bicornis) has fared best, with some

12,000 individuals surviving in well-protected

parks. One of two races of the African white

or square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium

simum) is adequately protected, while the

other is still in a precarious position. The

trade in rhino horn has always centered in

the Far East, and thus it is to be expected

that it has had a more devastating effect on

the Asiatic species. It is probably too late

to save the Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros

sondiacus), the closest living relative of the

Indian rhinoceros. This species was once

found throughout Indochina, Sumatra, and

Java; but now only about two dozen survive

in the Udjung-Kulon Reserve in Java. The

Sumatran rhinoceros (Didermoceros suma-

trensis) once shared the Javan rhino’s range

and was also found in Borneo. Unique in

that it is the only present-day rhinoceros

whose body is covered with hair, it remains

in only a few isolated pockets in Sumatra,

Malaysia, Burma, and Thailand; but it Is

unclear exactly how many animals there are

or what their chances are for survival.

It was during the Eocene epoch, between 55

and 35 million years ago that the first known

member of the rhinoceros family appeared.

Although it was hornless, this odd-toed

ungulate had in other respects the typical

rhinoceros body form. Later, a great variety

of rhinoceros species evolved, including the

woolly rhinoceros of northern Eurasia,

which was portrayed in human cave paintings

but had died out before the end of the last

Ice Age. The genus to which the Indian

rhinoceros belongs can be traced back to the

Miocene epoch between 25 and 10 million

years ago. But the antiquity of the rhino-

ceros family and the fact that a great many

species died out before the end of the Ice

Ages do not mean that the rhinoceros as a

group would have faced extinction today

without human interference. On the con-

trary, there is every indication that the five

species that have survived into our own

geological epoch would have continued to

prosper indefinitely were it not for needless

destruction of their habitat and needless

persecution for superstitious reasons.

In appearance, the Indian rhinoceros probably

represents to most people more of an echo of

the antiquity of the rhinoceros line than any

other rhinoceros species. Its skin, divided

into section by large folds, has the look of

armor-plating; there are even flat circular

lumps in the skin that might be taken either

for rivet-heads or for chain-mail. Moreover,

the impression that this is a creature from the

distant past is greatly augmented by the fact

that, whereas photographs of the African

rhinoceros species on their natural habitat

are relatively common, few people have

seen or photographed the Indian rhinoceros

or any of the other Asiatic rhinoceroses in

their native habitat.

There are apparently only two substantial

populations of the Indian rhinoceros remain-

ing in existence, one in the Indian state of

Assam and one in Nepal. The larger of the

two is that located at the Kazaringa Wildlife

Reserve in the Indian state of Assam, which

in 1966 was estimated at 400 animals but

which has apparently declined since then.

Intense effort is being made to protect the

rhinos in this reserve, but poaching has still

not been entirely eliminated. The second

largest population is the one found at the

Chitawan Rhino Sanctuary in Nepal; in 1966,

this was estimated to contain 165 animals.

However, the most recent investigator, in

1970, estimated that both these populations

taken together totaled no more than 250

animals.

Several scientists have visited Kazaringa in

recent years and have gathered valuable

notes on the ecology and behavior of the

Indian rhinoceroses there. Its habitat in this

reserve is marshland to a large extent, as it

apparently is in the few other areas where the

species is still found. Although, given its

fondness for baths and its well-attested ability

as aswimmer, the Indian rhinoceros is evident-

ly more dependent on water than either of

the two African species and was probably

always found close to rivers, its restriction to

marshland is believed to be relatively recent.

It has most likely retreated to the marshlands

because they are the only acceptable habitat

for Indian rhinos that has not been taken

over by human settlement. All rhinoceroses

are animals neither of open grassland nor of

really dense forests and are most commonly

found in areas that combine grassland with

some trees and bushes and it is probable that

the Indian rhinoceros was originally found in

a variety of such habitats alongside water-

courses.

Actually, the Indian rhino’s habitat in the

Kazaringa offers a balance between perma-

nent swampland and a certain amount of

steppe and forest. The more characteristic

vegetation is the six- to fifteen-foot-high

elephant grass, on which the rhinos rely for

cover in time of danger and which also con-

stitutes a large percentage of their diet.

Alternating with the elephant grass are more

open pasturelands, where shorter grasses and

various marsh plants grow. The rhinos feed

on this vegetation also to a certain extent.

Finally, there are scattered bits of forest in

the reserve, where rhinos can also occasion-

ally be found. The life of the Indian rhino-

ceros in the Kazaringa is further complicated

by seasonal floods that inundate much of the

area, forcing the rhinos to migrate to the

foot of the Mikir Hills to the south of the

reserve. That is a region where rice and tea

are cultivated, and there the rhinos unfor-

tunately sometimes come into conflict with

human settlers.

Except for flood-times, the Kazaringa rhinos

lead a remarkably regular life. They sleep

from midnight till early morning, usually

concealed in the elephant grass. Then they

move by well-trodden trails to grazing areas,

where they feed for about two hours more.

Wallowing in mud, a habit the Zoo’s Indian

rhinoceroses share, doubtless provides a pro-

tective coating against external parasites.

Around mid-day, the rhinos return to their

resting places, where they sleep at least three

hours. On waking they againfind suitable

feeding grounds and remain there until

midnight.

In general, members of all rhinoceros species

are not very sociable animals. Adults,

especially adult males, are frequently solitary.

The only really strong social grouping that is

ever found is a small matriarchal grouping —

numbering up to seven individuals in the

Indian rhinoceros — consisting of an adult

female and other rhinoceroses to which she

has given birth in the past. If these are males,

they are probably less than nine years old —

These two photographs illustrate ‘‘Flenhmen’”’ — the

exaggerated lip-curl shown by a male Indian

rhinoceros when he sniffs an estrus female’s urine.

the age at which the male reaches sexual

maturity. If they are females, they may

have young of their own, which are also

members of the group. When the matriarch

is near giving birth, she drives away her pre-

vious offspring, which is then between one-

and-three-quarters and three years old. But

when her new calf is about one-half grown,

the mother may be rejoined by several of

her previous offspring.

Two or more matriarchal groups will some-

times come together temporarily in grazing

areas, at bathing sites, or at mud wallows

and share the area in peace; these temporary

aggregations may number up to 20 animals.

The only other type of social bond that is

seen in this species is the temporary bond

that exists between a male and female that

are mating. Fully adult males are rarely seen

together, and two adult males that meet will

usually show aggressive signals, such as

violent snorting, until one of the two flees.

Each solitary bull Indian rhinoceros defends

a private grazing territory about an acre in

area and also defends a private sleeping place.

Some authorities believe that solitary adult

females defend similar territories; whether or

not matriarchal groups also do so is unclear.

On the other hand, bathing places and wallows

are never private property, and rhinos inter-

mingle there. When territorial male rhinos

meet at these places, they snort at each other

but soon settle down to bathe or wallow

together peacefully. Most of the paths

through the elephant grass are public and

open to all rhinos, but the paths that branch

off these public paths and lead to the private

sleeping and feeding territories are private

and are defended against intruders.

Each group and each solitary individual

tends by and large to keep out of the way of

other groups and individuals; they are able

to do so primarily by means of olfactory

communication. Large dung piles on the

well-worn public rhino trails are used by each

individual as it passes; thus it keeps other

rhinos that come along the same trail later

informed about who has passed that way.

Such a dung pile — which may be as high as

three feet in the center and may extend out-

wards to a radius of four or five feet —

apparently offers an irresistible stimulus to

every passing rhino; and it has been reported

that even when pursued by hunters an Indian

rhinoceros would stop at every dung pile it

encountered during its flight. Solitary bulls

also sometimes leave olfactory signals in the

form of urine, which they spray horizontally

backwards onto grasses and other plants.

In addition, adult females mark by spraying

urine horizontally when they are in estrus, at

which time the marking doubtless serves to

alert males to their location and their condi-

tion of breeding readiness. The estrus female

also signals her condition by means of a high-

pitched whistle which can carry for a con-

‘siderable distance. Moreover, in the wild the

estrus female Indian rhinoceros wanders

away from her usual home range in search of

a mate.

There is a breeding season in the female

Indian rhinoceros during which she comes

into estrus approximately every 46 to 48

days although the interval may occasionally

be as short as 38 days or as long as 58 days.

Each of these estrus periods lasts about 24

hours. One observer believed that the breed-

ing season generally occurs in the spring in

the Kazaringa Reserve; captive females have

come into season at a variety of other times

of the year in a variety of zoos. In the Basel

Zoo in Switzerland the female has also come

into breeding condition in the spring. In both

the Delhi Zoo and our own National Zoo,

females have come into breeding condition

during late summer and early autumn. The

male comes into breeding condition in

response to the presence of a female in estrus.

The breeding behavior of the Indian rhino-

ceros has been little observed in the wild; but

a considerable amount of data is available

from zoos — including, now, the National

Zoo. At most zoos, adult pairs of Indian

rhinoceroses are kept separate except when

the female’s behavior indicates a possibility

of mating. When admitted to an estrus

female’s enclosure, the male reacts with

several characteristic forms of behavior. One

of these is vigorous chasing or “‘driving’’ of

the female; females evidently also chase

males at times. Another is a facial expression

usually referred to by the German word

‘“Flehmen.” Flehmen, which appears in

courting males of a great many mammalian

species, consists of sniffing the estrus female’s

urine and curling the lip in a distinctive

exaggerated fashion. The lip-curl apparently

makes it possible for the scent of the female’s

urine to reach Jacobson’s organ, a cavity lined

with olfactory mucus membranes and con-

nected with both the nasal cavity and the oral

cavity, that is presumably sensitive to the

chemical composition of the estrus female’s

urine.

The National Zoo’s male Indian rhinoceros

(“Tarun”’) is 14 years old and has been here

since May of 1960; the female (‘‘Rajkumari’’)

is nine years old and was received in Decem-

ber, 1963. Female rhinoceroses first enter

breeding condition at the age of about five

years; and the Zoo’s female was first placed

with the male at that age on July 1st, 1968.

The male drove the female but made no

attempt to mate. The first clear breeding

behavior was observed in August, 1970, when

the male mounted the female briefly on two

occasions but without successful copulation.

A year later considerable breeding activity

was Observed, including one mounting that

lasted ten minutes, during which partial

intromission and external ejaculation were

observed.

Consequently, as the time of year during

which these attempts had taken placed ap-

proached again in 1972, it was hoped that at

last a successful breeding might occur. On

July 11, 1972, the pair were placed together

for the first time since December, 1971; and,

in subsequent days, they were kept together

for most of the day but separated at night.

On July 13, the male chased the female

around the enclosure, but the female did not

develop full estrus that month. On August

11, when it was again believed that the

female was coming into estrus, the rhinos

were put together at night; and arrangements

were made for Friends of the National Zoo

volunteers to observe their nocturnal

behavior and summon the scientist

in charge of the Indian rhinoceros breeding

program, in the event of any breeding

activity.

At 6:50 p.m. on August 12th, the first

breeding attempt of the season took place;

and during the next 20 hours, the male

mounted the female some 30 times. The

male failed to achieve full intromission, how-

ever, and none of the mountings lasted longer

than ten minutes. Many observers have com-

mented on the difficulty the male Indian

rhinoceros often has in achieving intromission

once he is mounted. Because of his great

bulk and because of the fact that the erect

penis is over three feet long and curved for-

ward at the tip, considerable rather awkward

maneuvering is often required before success-

ful copulatory position is achieved.

On September 23rd, 41 days after this period

of unsuccessful but intense breeding activity,

the female first showed signs of the onset of a

new estrus. She was active throughout the

night, pacing continuously for long periods

along the wall or the bars of the cage. The

following morning she had a very high tem-

perature over her entire body, probably as a

result of the exercise. For three days she

continued her nightly activity, wandering

between her indoor and outdoor enclosures

and bathing frequently in her outdoor pool.

By the third day, her temperature had

returned to normal. Evidently this period of

great restlessness corresponded to the reported

wandering of the female Indian rhinoceros at

the time of estrus in the wild.

Many of the signs that indicate that a female

Indian rhinoceros is in estrus have been ob-

served in Zoos. Among these are urinating

horizontally backwards, whistling, opening

and closing or “flashing” the vulva, backing

into the male, and placing the head between

the male’s hind legs. During Rajkumari’s

period of nighly restlessness, however, she

showed none of these signs. The only clear

indication of an estrus condition was a dark

amber-colored urine the morning after her

first night of activity. Then, on the morning

of September 29, she flashed her vulva

briefly after urinating normally; and she

twice raised her tail over her back as a female

Indian rhinoceros is reported to do when

urinating horizontally. At 5:30 a.m. on

September 30, she backed into the male,

pressing him against the wall of the cage. At

6:35 a.m., both rhinoceroses went outside

quite suddenly, and mounting began. The male

‘easily achieved intromission and remained in the effort to save these unique and spec-

mounted from 6:40 to 7:50 a.m., during tacular animals; and some of the Indian

which time there were numerous ejaculations, —_ rhinoceroses that, with luck, will be born

as indicated by strong pelvic movements. In here in future years will hopefully contribute

another captive pair of Indian rhinoceroses, to re-established populations of this species

56 ejaculations were counted in a 60-minute- in the wild.

long mounting; and many have pointed out

that this breeding pattern is the likely reason

for what is probably the most widespread,

persistent, and destructive of folk beliefs

about rhinoceroses — namely, that rhino-

ceros horn is of value as an aphrodisiac.

The Zoo’s two Indian rhinoceroses are located at

the Elephant House (number 11 on map).

After the male dismounted, the female re-

turned to her indoor enclosure and made some

vocalizations, including a high-pitched squeak.

This sound was believed to be related to the

female Indian rhino’s well-known whistle, but

the Zoo’s female never produced a really dis-

tinct whistle. No further mounting occurred,

and the animals rested the better part of the

next 24 hours. They were active, however,

for brief periods and frequently in physical

contact with each other both while resting

and while active. In November, a watch was

begun again in order to determine whether or

not the female would again come into estrus.

There were no signs of estrus — a good indica-

tion that the September breeding had indeed

been successful and that she was pregnant. If

there is a birth without complications, it will

be the first viable birth to have taken place in

any Zoo in North America.

The first Indian rhinoceros birth in captivity

took place on September 14, 1956, at the

Basel Zoo. Since then, eleven more have

been born in Basel and eight in other zoos.

The gestation period has been measured at

between 462 and 489 days. The calf, born

while the mother is standing and in a time of

only 15 to 30 minutes, is pink in color at

birth. Its skin has the folds and protuber-

ances of the adult’s; but the horn Is not

present yet, and there is a smooth oval plate

where it will appear later. The calf is able to

stand on its feet and follow its mother after

about the first hour-and-a-half of life.

The great Indian rhinoceros is one of relative-

ly few endangered animal species which have

a clear chance of being saved from extinction

by breeding in zoos. Successes over the past

fifteen years indicate that breeding this

species in captivity should soon become a

routine matter. Then, when a large number

of captive-born animals are being produced,

it should be possible to re-introduce some of

them to the wild in protected reserves in

parts of this species once-extensive range.

The National Zoo is proud to be involved