ZOOLOGISCHER GARTEN, STUTTGART: DIRECTOR, HERR ADOLF NILL
This Zoological Garden owes its origin to Johannes Nill, a carpenter in
the city, and a great lover of animals.
His collection at first consisted of indigenous animals, such as deer,
roe, foxes, singing-birds, etc. Wild boars and chamois were afterwards
added. A large circle of Nill’s acquaintances paid regular visits to
the collection, and in 1866 a restaurant was built and called the Deer
Park Inn. With the proceeds of this restaurant a Zoological Garden
was laid out, and a deer house, a monkey house, some bear pits, and
duck-ponds were constructed. To these were afterwards added enclosures
for chamois, wild boars, goats, ducks, birds of prey, and small birds.
The Garden was opened on July 1, 1871. The entrance fee was fixed at
three-pence, and a penny-halfpenny for children; yearly subscribers
paid two florins for a family, and one florin for one person.
After the closing of the well-known Werner Zoological Garden in the
centre of the town, more land was acquired in 1875, and several new
buildings were erected, including a llama house and a gymnasium for
children.
In 1883 the lion house was built.
In 1885 the large Entressicher Menagerie was bought and added to the
collection, and military band concerts were instituted. The price of
season tickets was now raised to eight marks.
In 1893 large additions were made to the Garden. A new elephant house,
a bird-of-prey aviary, a small-cats’ house, the antelope house, and a
large ornamental square were erected. Unhappily, it was not permitted
to the owner and founder of the Garden to see the end of his work as a
completed whole, as death claimed him in May, 1894.
[Illustration: PELICANS, STUTTGART.]
Thanks to the great encouragement of the public and the strong interest
manifested in it by the Royal house and the civic magistracy, the
Zoological Garden is at the present day one of the chief sights of the
town and surrounding country.
* * * * *
This Garden is approached up a steep hill. It is not pretty, but
contains some good animals. Passing through a large café, we come
to the entrance-gate (fifty pfennig), and find on the left a large
bird-of-prey aviary. This is followed by a pen containing a herd
of American bison, one cow having a calf at her heels. In a large
Oriental house are a fine Indian elephant, some pigmy cattle, and a
tapir. Opposite is a monkey house, containing a pair of most amusing
chimpanzees. There they sat at two school-desks, quietly picking their
noses. Anthropoid apes are almost human; they make such a business of
doing nothing.
In another house was a pair of white-tailed gnus (how restless and
timid these animals are!), a pair of black bucks, and a zebra. Then a
deer enclosure follows. In a house devoted to the smaller cats are some
good specimens, notably, several servals, caracals, and a beautifully
marked ocelot, a genet from South Europe, and an ichneumon from South
Africa.
According to the labels on the cages, one might imagine that there were
thousands of animals in Cape Colony, but this is not so at the present
day. South Africa means, probably, anywhere south of the Zambesi, which
is a totally different thing. Opposite a large open space occupied
by rows of seats was a big circular cage, containing Fräulein Clair
Heliot’s performing lions, and a magnificent lot of animals they are. I
made the acquaintance of this charming lady, and she told me a great
number of interesting facts about her pets. To see the lady enter the
cage in a smart print dress and a picture hat and kiss and caress each
huge lion in turn is a wonderful sight. I have a great admiration for
anyone who possesses such love of, and power over, the brute creation.
So often one sees lions skulk away in terror from the lion-tamer. Not
one of Clair Heliot’s lions was in the least afraid of her, showing
plainly that what she had taught them was taught with the greatest
kindness. It was a sight to see a parrot or a monkey come to this lady
when she called it. All the animals in the Garden knew and loved her.
[Illustration: BRINDLED GNU, STUTTGART.]
It is curious that we in England make so few pets of animals. We have,
of course, cats, dogs, and horses, but we go little further. I do not
mean to say that every lady should have her pet lion about her, but
there are other pets quite as dear and quite as affectionate as the
horse, dog, and cat.
Besides Clair Heliot’s lions, there was a permanent lion house,
containing a pair of lions, a pair of tigers, and a particularly fine
jaguar.
There is a cool underground aquarium well worth the penny extra they
charge for admission. The tanks have sea and fresh water pumped
continuously into them by a gas engine. Here is to be seen a beautiful
collection of fish: trout, lobsters, eels, carp, flat-fish, cray-fish,
king-crabs, dog-fish; some beautiful sea-anemones, a large number of
sea-horses (most fascinating to watch), tortoises, a salamander from
Japan, and a tiny seal in a tank and pretty grotto. We next come to
some crane pens and duck-ponds, chamois among some rocks, a number of
ostriches, and the inevitable herd of Shetland ponies.