ZOOLOGISK HAVE, COPENHAGEN
The Zoological Garden in Copenhagen was founded in 1859 by Dr.
Kjaerblling. It is a quaint Garden, situated by the side of a large
park. On paying fifty ore to a pretty girl (the first pretty girl I
had seen in Denmark) at the entrance, I found myself opposite a large
duck-pond with little islands in it, upon which were placed boxes for
the birds to build their nests in. Close by the side of the pond was a
model in plaster of the huge _Dinosaurus iguanodon_, a kangaroo-like
reptile long ago extinct, a skeleton of which is to be seen in the
Brussels Museum.
Near a large restaurant was placed an ingeniously constructed seal
tank, like an aquarium, with a thick plate-glass front to enable one to
see the creature swimming about below the surface of the water. It was
amusing to watch it sitting bolt upright, with its tail resting on the
bottom of the tank, and its nose and eyes just above the surface of the
water.
Next came a pair of water-buffalo and their baby, and an American
bison. In the centre of the Garden was a pheasant pen, and a very large
aviary with trees growing in it, upon the top of which herons built
their nests. There were many duck and fowl aviaries, some of the
latter having curious little houses with ponds in front of them. There
was a small cats’ house, which smelt abominably. This, however, is
unavoidable, containing as it does foxes, civets, polecats, wild cats,
servals, porcupines, wolves, jackals and two sorts of hyænas. There was
a lion house with outside cages, containing a pair of lions, a pair
of tigers, leopards, jaguars and a puma (the latter always growling).
Another house contained a very miscellaneous collection--some goats, a
pair of Shetland ponies, a magnificent cassowary (very tame), a tapir,
some Brahma cattle, some wild boars, a lot of guinea-pigs, a crane, two
dorcas gazelle, two muntjacs, an enormous zebra, and a tiny donkey.
All the trees and shrubs in this Garden were extraordinarily backward;
scarcely a leaf was out, and as it poured with rain during the whole of
my visit of five hours, the outlook could scarcely be called pleasing
to the eye.
There was a small house of flamingoes and storks, and in an elephant
house were a small Indian elephant and a troupe of performing dogs
and monkeys. Here Herr Litz, the celebrated trainer, was performing
with a various assortment of animals. In the deer sheds were a pair of
cariboo, with a baby a few weeks old, some axis and some wapiti deer.
There were several bird-of-prey aviaries, and in them some beautiful
Iceland falcons. A second elephant house contained an enormous Indian
elephant. A fine new series of bear pits in red brick was in course of
construction. But the best house in the Garden was a really good and
new monkey house, very lofty and roomy, with huge plate-glass fronts.
In one of the compartments was a young Himalayan bear, together with
several monkeys. The outside cages of this house contained trees,
ropes, swings, a windmill and a rocking-horse for the amusement of the
apes. Altogether I consider this one of the finest and best-appointed
monkey houses in Europe.
On the top of what looked like a factory chimney a pair of storks had
built their nest in the open air. A house for tropical small birds
contained an enormous number of paroquets, and close by was a quaint
cone-shaped owl house, with outside and inside cages. There were
wild-sheep rockeries, wolves’ dens, and another pond, besides many
smaller houses.
This Garden is well worth a visit.