CONSERVING WILDLIFE — JACKSON 255 



ostrichlike bird, the rhea, are near the vanishing point in South 

 America, as are the bell bird and the steamer ducks, flightless ducks of 

 Tierra del Fuego. 



North America, where our interests more naturally center, has a 

 long list of endangered wildlife races, at least 50 in number, of which 

 all except one or two marine forms occur in the United States or its 

 Territories. Several of the grizzly bears have already gone, and 

 within the States it would seem that Yellowstone National Park and 

 Glacier National Park offer about the only real hope for their preser- 

 vation. Black bears as a group are reasonably safe, yet the Florida 

 black bear is reduced to less than 500 and is decreasing in numbers. 

 That frosty-gray bear of the black bear group, the glacier bear of 

 Alaska, is so scarce as to face extinction. Its remote and almost inac- 

 cessible habitat may save it. 



The fisher, the marten, and the wolverine have all been trapped so 

 extensively for fur that they are almost gone from the United States 

 and have been reduced to the danger point everywhere in North Amer- 

 ica. The black-footed ferret, formerly found on the plains with a 

 geographic range almost coinciding with that of the prairie dog, was 

 never a common mammal, but has become rarer and rarer, until now 

 it is seldom reported. The southern sea otter was a few years ago 

 believed to be extinct, when unexpectedly a small herd was discovered 

 south of Carmel, Monterey County, on the coast of California. This 

 herd now numbers about 300 animals or more, though recently tending 

 to become scattered. It is protected and guarded carefully, and with 

 proper management the race may be saved from extinction. 



The unsuspecting little kit fox of our western plains was not only 

 easily trapped for its fur but also frequently was caught in traps set 

 for coyotes and other animals. No restrictions seem to have been 

 placed on killing it, with the result that what was once a common 

 mammal is now rare, and in many regions extirpated. The timber 

 wolf of the Northeastern States could hardly be expected to withstand 

 settlements and civilization and has almost succumbed to the inevitable. 

 In fact, all the large wolves of the United States are endangered. 

 The eastern puma, or cougar, has been exterminated. Among the 

 other cougars, the Florida subspecies is the most endangered, there 

 being probably less than 25 individuals left. 



Several of our seals are so reduced in numbers as to cause serious 

 concern for them. The Guadalupe fur seal of the west coast of Mexico 

 has reached too low a population for its safety, and may even have 

 vanished, and both the West Indian monk seal and the Pacific monk 

 seal have become rare and reduced to local habitats. That oddity of 

 seals, the elephant seal of the Pacific coast, has shown some recovery 

 during the past decade, but is still in a precarious condition. On the 



