258 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



thereafter in the work of the zoo. It is hard to understand the 

 reasoning of a fanatical " animal lover " that would rather see ani- 

 mals killed than captured and made pets for the instruction and 

 amusement of thousands of other equally good animal lovers. The 

 extremists, who wish to abolish zoos, do not tell us what is to be 

 done with these pet animals, and apparently have never considered 

 the saving, by methods of domestication, of species doomed other- 

 wise to extinction. 



A recent outbreak against the zoological gardens had to do with 

 the exhibition of specimens of the American eagle. At a meeting 

 of one of the societies concerned with such matters, according to 

 newspaper reports, it was argued that it is " unpatriotic and incon- 

 sistent to imprison for life the noble bird that has been chosen to 

 typify the proud, free, and lofty spirit of America." It was further 

 urged " that the eagles in captivity at the National Zoological Park 

 and other places be liberated." Now, the eagles in the National 

 Zoological Park have been almost invariably rescued from death. The 

 park does not encourage the capture of eagles and always advises 

 against the destruction of the birds or their nests. These that we 

 have on exhibition have been trapped or shot, and we have taken 

 them and brought them back to health. Were they liberated, it is 

 certain that they would be promptly shot. The hand of almost 

 every man is against the eagle, the bird is without legal protection 

 in most States, and in some places bounties are actually paid for its 

 destruction. Almost everyone shoots or traps an eagle whenever 

 possible, and the wonder is that the bird exists as a wild creature in 

 America to-day. Egg hunters know virtually every nest in many 

 parts of the United States and rob them from year to year. The 

 eagles in the zoo are seen and admired by millions of visitors who 

 would never see a live eagle, especially at short range, in all their 

 lives in any other way. They are regularly used as models by 

 artists, and hundreds of photographs and drawings have been made 

 of them in the years past, both by ornithologists and engravers. 

 The beautiful eagles on our Government bills and bonds have been 

 made directly from these very birds. What is needed is not protec- 

 tion for the eagles in the zoological gardens, but for the eagles left 

 in a wild state. If the societies so distressed over the eagles in 

 captivity would only join forces with the officials of our most promi- 

 nent zoological gardens, who are doing all in their power to obtain 

 legal protection for the eagles, they would indeed be doing some 

 practical good in the cause of the wild creatures. 



When one considers how rapidly the wild animals are being 

 exterminated from the face of the earth, and what cruel methods 

 are employed in hunting and trapping for meat, furs, hides, and oil, 

 and how man's use of the land is depriving whole species of all 



