Cats and lemurs in the Crystal Palace
Mar. 7th, 2005 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indriSome more lemur anecdotes for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
speakr2customrs and others. This is from a letter printed in the 25 December 2004 issue of New Scientist, from Sarah Hartwell of Chelmsford, Essex, UK.
...in 1900 a ring-tailed lemur (a primate) won the foreign breed class at the Crystal Palace cat show in London. The matter was widely discussed in the general press and in animal fancier publications at the time.
The owner defended his win because the sailors who often brought home lemurs termed them "Madagascar cats". The judge, a Miss H. Cochran, defended the award by saying "A lemur is a lemur, and a Madagascar cat is a Madagascar cat."
In the 1920s, it was reported that several of these animals were exported to the US. On their journey these assumed "cats" were fed on cooked meats -- a quite unsuitable diet for a fruit-eating lemur.
Some photographs of the peculiar plants of the ring-tailed lemur habitat: Madagascar's Spiny Forest and its strangely-leaved octopus trees. These photos are from Berenty, the place described in Lords and Lemurs.
avidrosette: I owe you both email and comments. I will attend to both tomorrow, as it is already midnight here. Thanks and best wishes.
speakr2customrs and others. This is from a letter printed in the 25 December 2004 issue of New Scientist, from Sarah Hartwell of Chelmsford, Essex, UK....in 1900 a ring-tailed lemur (a primate) won the foreign breed class at the Crystal Palace cat show in London. The matter was widely discussed in the general press and in animal fancier publications at the time.
The owner defended his win because the sailors who often brought home lemurs termed them "Madagascar cats". The judge, a Miss H. Cochran, defended the award by saying "A lemur is a lemur, and a Madagascar cat is a Madagascar cat."
In the 1920s, it was reported that several of these animals were exported to the US. On their journey these assumed "cats" were fed on cooked meats -- a quite unsuitable diet for a fruit-eating lemur.
Some photographs of the peculiar plants of the ring-tailed lemur habitat: Madagascar's Spiny Forest and its strangely-leaved octopus trees. These photos are from Berenty, the place described in Lords and Lemurs.
avidrosette: I owe you both email and comments. I will attend to both tomorrow, as it is already midnight here. Thanks and best wishes.
