The $1000 Gift To Animals – Day 3

Ah, so you’re back again.  That’s great.  Aren’t animals fun?  Let’s continue our visit to the New York Zoological Park.  Remember, this is the zoo that resulted from Fordham University’s selling the land it sits on to New York City for $1000.

So far, we’ve visited elephants, brown bears, and arctic foxes.  Today’s vintage postcards picture the giraffe and hippopotamus.

Giraffe

Postcard of Giraffe at NY Zoological Park reaching up to man on fence.

  

The Bronx Zoo has a wonderful page full of fun facts on this tallest of animals.  What I found interesting, was the scientific research being conducted to determine how many species of giraffes exist.  This had been mentioned while I was touring Disney’s Animal Kingdom several years ago.   If found to be true, some giraffe species may be threatened, due to smaller populations, rather than the current status of “lower risk”.  One wonders if there may be subspecies of other lower risk animals we don’t yet know about, that should be protected.

 Hippopotamus

Postcard of Hippopotamus Pete at the NY Zoological Park

  

The St. Louis Zoo has a similar page of info and fun facts on the hippopotamus.  For instance - hippos can run faster than humans, and baby hippos can nurse underwater.  Be sure to check out the web page of your local zoo.  It too might have a page of fun facts on it’s exhibited animals.  (note, the hippopotamus is not on the list of exhibited animals at the Bronx Zoo at this time)

 

Be sure to come back each day, starting Saturday, 02/27/10, thru Wednesday, 03/03/10, to find out which animal on vintage postcards from the New York Zoological Park will be visited that day.

 

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The $1000 Gift For Animals

Not long ago, I was excited to discover several vintage postcards from the New York Zoological Park in a 900 postcard lot I’d just bought.  This excitement was because I’d recently become a member of the Minnesota Zoo.  I go to this zoo to relax, while watching frolicking baby otters, sleepy Red Pandas (very cute), darling Prairie Dogs, endangered Amur Tigers and Leopards (they have such BIG paws), and other animals up close.

The Gift

My membership in the Minnesota Zoo helps support these wonderful animals and the zoo’s conservation efforts.  In the 1880s, Fordham University sold most of the land another zoo sits on for $1000 to the City of New York on condition it be used for a zoo and garden.  This led to the formation of the New York Zoological Society in 1895 (WCS), one of the first conservation organizations in the U.S.

The Bronx Zoo

The New York Zoological Society’s wildlife conservation efforts led to the opening of the Bronx Zoo (originally called the New York Zoological Park) in November, 1899 featuring 843 animals in 22 exhibits.

Over the next five days, I will be featuring vintage postcards of animals exhibited at the New York Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo).  Be sure to come back each day to find out which of this zoo’s 843 animals on postcards I’ve posted.

Elephant House at the New York Zoological Park

Riding Indian Elephant, Gunda, at the NY Zoological Park

Pair of East African Elephants at the NY Zoological Park

  

 

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