Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1894 — THEY COME HIGH. [ARTICLE]

THEY COME HIGH.

Commercial Value of Wild Animate for Circus Purposes. Few people have a correct idea of the commercial value of wild animals. The price is fixed by menageries and circuses, because these are the largest buyers. We give the value of some of these animals as estimated by a prominent showman. Tne famous Jumbo cost $10,030 and this sum was increased to »28,000 by sutsequent expenses, such as transportation. The elephant was worth to his owners $3V,000 a week. Giraffes are quoted at $6,000 each and hippopotami are valued at $4,000 each. A rhinoceros with ore horn cost $3,000. Another horn adds just SI,OOO to his value. Lions range from SBOO to $1,200. A lioness costs SI,OOO and tigers are quoted at SI,OOO. Grizzly bears are becoming scarce, and ai e hard to keep in captivity. A really fine specimen is worth SI,OOO, and they range from that down to ssol'. Polar Lears come at SBOO. Other bears range from SSJ to S2OO. A camel with ode hump is worth $350, and two humps brings the market value up to S4OO. Ostricnes are valued at SBOO apiece. Gnus, which don’t attract much attention, are found in every flr.T-class menagerie and cost S7OO The American buflalo is worth SSOO, just sloo more than his Indian brother. The Rocky mountain goat is quoted rather high, SSOO, while panthers and leopards are plenty at $250 each, and hyenas and pumas go for $175. Antelopes range all tte way from $lB5 to S3OO, and deer from $75 to SIOO, while a moose brings ssbo, the same price as a nylghau. An ant-eater is worth »4ik; hartbeests (a kind of antelope), wart hogs and sloths, $350; cheetahs, alpacas and guanacos, $300; tapirs, S+OJ. Sea lions bring from S3OO to S4OO, while seals are worth but SSO. Zebus are worth $250; llamas, $200; emus, $175, and mountain lions, SIOO. Armadillos are to be had for SSO, and porcupines for half that amount. Wolves come a little higher. They average $75. Kangaroos have increased in valve of late years. They are now quoted of $l5O. The more valuable monkeys range from S2O to $75. Horses are very valuable in a show and these animals trained for circus purposes are worth $2,500.