488 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
ers, working as inspectors and as voluntary aides, and by the forest 
wardens. 
And now a few examples showing the realization of the principles 
just mentioned. 
We shall omit here the activity of the national parks, and discuss 
other aspects of the protection of fauna in the Russian Republic. By 
federal control, the following species of mammals benefit through pro- 
tection in all parts of the Republic: The sable, the otter, martens, the 
Russian desman (Desmana moschata), the Ussuri dog (NVyctereutes 
procyonoides), the sea otter, the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ur- 
sinus), the beaver, all species of deer (the roebuck excepted), the 
moose, the saiga antelope, the European bison, the goral (Vemorhae- 
dus goral, antelope-goat). Protection is absolute for the following 
species: The goral, the beaver, the sea otter, the European red deer, 
the Axis deer, and the European bison. Other species—their num- 
bers having increased very much during recent years—may be hunted 
in limited numbers by persons duly sanctioned and possessing special 
hunting permits, indicating the number, the dates, and the other 
conditions of the hunting of these animals. This system was begun 
in 1946, and included a severe limitation on the hunting of protected 
animals. It had been adopted for the moose in 1945. The hunting 
of moose, an animal which had become rare, was completely forbidden 
in 1919. The results of this protection were so satisfying that now 
the moose has become quite common, not only in Siberia, but also in 
the European section of our country (for example, the immediate en- 
virons of Moscow). 
In reality the list of protected species is much longer, because hunt- 
ing controls imposed by local authorities (the executive committees 
of the Soviets of the Oblasts and of the Krai, the councils of ministers 
of the Autonomous Soviet Republics) give complete protection for 
animals that have become rare or endemic or important scientifically 
in the region of their jurisdiction. It is thus that in Russia, which in- 
cludes 62 large administrative areas, the roebuck is protected in 34 
areas, the silver fox in 27, the weasel in 26, the mink in 23, the badger 
in 20, the ermine and the ferret in 15, the reindeer in 138, the wild boar 
in 13, the steppe marmot in 12, the European red deer in 9, the Si- 
berian red deer (Cervus wanthopygus) in 7, the brown bear in 5, the 
bighorn sheep (Ovis nivicola) and the ibex in 4, the Corsak fox 
(Vulpes corsac) in 4, the Persian gazelle (Antilope subgutturosa) in 
2, the tiger in 2, the chamois in 2, the leopard in 1, etc. The total 
number of mammals protected by local authorities in the Russian 
Republic is now 40. We must realize that for many of these species 
this local protection covers their whole area of distribution in the 
U.S.S.R.: for example, such is the case of the chamois, the red deer, 
