The birth of a Lycaon pictus L. in the Zoological Garden of Warszawa

It is notorious that the lycaon, the negro evil of plains, while by no means a declining race in Africa, has always been rare in Zoological Gardens. The reasons of this are twofold and closely interrelated. The animal presented some difficulties to rearing, readily perished and withal was not subject to reproduction in captivity and so there were no new born animals available for exchange between Zoological Gardens. Causes for the non resistance of lycaons under conditions of Europe are to be found less in climate differences between Europe and Africa — for the habitat of these plain animals to the South reaches far beyond the tropic of Capricorn — and so lycaons should not be excessively susceptibLe to the European climate and especially to temperature changes like are tropical apes, chimpanzees and gorillas. We do not mean that it is possible particularly in east central Europe to risk the keeping of lycaons in winter without heated housing, yet, the final statement in the matter could be not issued until Zoological Gardens design housing accomodations adequate for this kind of animal from biologic point of view.