The African Pygmy, "Ota Benga."
Age, 23 years. Height, 4 feet 11 inches.
Weight, 103 pounds. Brought from the
Kasai River, Congo Free State, South Central Africa, by Dr. Samuel P. Verner.
Benga was exhibited in the afternoons during September. Zoo officials clothed him in animal skins for viewers to gawk In youth his teeth had been filed to sharp points as was the custom of his people. Many New Yorkers thought they were for eating human flesh and called him a cannibal. Chimpanzees were put in the cage to suggest a comparison between him and them.
