Solenodons

Greatest tropical animal rarity in the Western Hemisphere is the solenodon, a little insectivorous beast resembling the opossum, smaller but with a similar ratty tail and a limber prehensile snout. Zoologists know it as the family Solenodontidae, which has but a single genus: solenodon. Classified as an extremely primitive form of animal, its skeletal structure is prehistoric. It dwells in rocky, mountain burrows on the islands of Haiti and Cuba only. A victory for any U. S. zoologist is the capture, transportation and sustenance of a solenodon over any length of time. Since October 1935, when Washington's last solenodon died, New York's Zoological Park has had the only one in the U. S. New York's solenodon, a female, is one of a pair purchased in Santiago, Santo Domingo. The price, $100 each, was really a courtesy gesture. Collectors have asked (but not received) $10,000 for a solenodon. Shortly after the trip to New York the male died, but a few weeks after her arrival the female gave birth, surprising the entire staff of the zoo. The baby died in two weeks. The mother still lives, is completely tame, completely stupid, and follows people around like a puppy. She is fed on raw beef and freshly killed pigeons, but will eat practically anything if given the opportunity.

Last week Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's summer city hall (see p. 12) was mildly excited when a letter arrived from Rafael Espaillat de la Mota, Dominican consul general in New York, announcing that President Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina of the Dominican Republic was presenting to Mayor LaGuardia four solenodons. The mayor passed the word to the Park Department, which had never heard of solenodons. When the Barinquen docked with the solenodons, one male had died. Remaining were a male, a female and a baby. Captain Ronald Cheyne-Stout, Director of the Zoo picked up his three bedraggled specimens and rushed them to Central Park Zoo, clapping the mother into the hospital to recover from her trip.

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