ON THE PRESERVATION OF THE MARINE ANIMALS OF 

 THE NORTHWEST COAST. 



Bv William H. Dall. 



I have been requested by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion to record any facts in m}'^ possession bearing- on tlie preservation 

 from extinction by the hand of man of the various marine animals of 

 the northwestern coast of America. 



The preservation of wild animals in menageries and zoological gar- 

 dens is necessarily of a most temporary nature, since many of them 

 will not breed in captivity and all require the greatest care to preserve 

 them in. even moderatelj'' good health. It is very rare that we tind 

 among the carnivores a large mammal which has reached a point as 

 near domestication as the lion, of which a reasonable supply of cubs 

 bred in captivity are generalh* available. Even the European ])ison, 

 which has been pr(^served in the forests of eastern Europe in small 

 numbers for several centuries in a state as near as possible to that of 

 untroubled nature, are now, it is reported, on the point of extinction 

 from disease and weakness due to constant inbreeding. 



Unless actually domesticated this is what niav be reasonably 

 expected to occur in time with any limited number of uncivilized men 

 or wild animals. If the stock is kept pure it will perish from breed- 

 ing in and in; if it is mingled with other blood the original type grad- 

 uallv fades out. We may, therefore, look forward to a time, nearer 

 perhaps than we suspect, w^hen all large animals and most of the 

 attractive wild birds will be known only from pictures or the rare and 

 precious specimens preserved in iimseums. Those animals capable of 

 domestication in large numbers, like certain deer, will alone survive 

 to represent to future generations the varied fauna of large wild 

 animals of to-day. The boreal swamps may still afford a refuge to 

 some of the more hardy fur-bearing creatures, but the use of furs 

 taken from wild animals will by that time })e wholly superseded b}^ 

 still more beautiful products of the loom. 



The lovers of nature and the uncommon (which includes the greater 

 pait of the civilized races) can not contemplate such a state of affairs 

 with equanimitv. Like the man who committed suicide because he 



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