xii DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



adequate and affect but a tithe of the extremely interesting 

 fauna of the country ; and even those are protected but 

 partially. Poaching, at which the native is an adept, still 

 flourishes with all its pristine and cruel vigour. 



The creation of Game Sanctuaries has been commenced 

 with a view to affording protection to certain animals, such 

 as the gaur or bison and rhinoceros and elsewhere to deer. 

 The question as to the length of time a tract should remain 

 a sanctuary is, however, still a debatable point, as also 

 the period of the close time which should be instituted for 

 animals in areas outside the sanctuary. 



It is the object of these notes to draw attention to the 

 urgent necessity of considering the Indian Fauna question 

 as a whole. The chapters devoted to sport bring out the 

 ever-increasing diminution in the numbers of game animals 

 in different parts of the country within the last two to three 

 decades. The economic value of the fauna is also dealt 

 with ; a matter which has received but httle attention in the 

 past. In the last chapter it is suggested that the Indian 

 Fauna as a whole requires a more adequate protection based 

 on a correct understanding of the habits of the varying 

 species. Zoologists consider this fauna to be one of the 

 most interesting of the land fauna of the Globe. In the 

 face of modern developments — the extension of agriculture, 

 in the activities of the Forest Department, the opening out of 

 the country by railways and roads for motor traffic, in the 

 construction of canal and irrigation works — it has become 

 vital that measures for the protection of the fauna based on 

 an impartial review of existing facts should be undertaken 

 before it becomes too late. 



