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  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  first 
  species 
  would 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  recover 
  and 
  make 
  good 
  its 
  losses, 
  whereas 
  

   the 
  second 
  would 
  continue 
  to 
  die 
  out 
  and 
  sooner 
  or 
  later 
  would 
  be- 
  

   come 
  extinct. 
  The 
  fur 
  seals 
  of 
  Bering 
  Sea 
  were 
  nearly 
  exterminated 
  

   through 
  reckless 
  hunting 
  by 
  American, 
  Japanese, 
  and 
  Russian 
  trap- 
  

   pers. 
  A 
  special 
  convention 
  held 
  by 
  representatives 
  of 
  the 
  three 
  

   countries 
  resulted 
  in 
  the 
  formulation 
  of 
  laws 
  that 
  restricted 
  the 
  

   slaughter 
  of 
  this 
  valuable 
  animal 
  and 
  checked 
  its 
  extermination. 
  

  

  A 
  contrast 
  to 
  the 
  preservation 
  of 
  the 
  fur 
  seal 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  fate 
  of 
  

   the 
  bison 
  in 
  Russia. 
  A 
  last 
  remnant, 
  a 
  herd 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  hundred 
  of 
  these 
  

   animals, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  once 
  widely 
  distributed 
  in 
  eastern 
  Europe, 
  

   lived 
  in 
  the 
  southwestern 
  part 
  of 
  European 
  Russia, 
  in 
  the 
  so-called 
  

   Beloveshskaya 
  Pushcha, 
  a 
  virgin 
  forest 
  covering 
  some 
  hundred 
  of 
  

   square 
  miles. 
  The 
  animals 
  were 
  living 
  in 
  a 
  reservation 
  protected 
  by 
  

   strict 
  legal 
  regulations 
  and 
  were 
  seldom 
  disturbed, 
  for 
  the 
  Pushcha 
  was 
  

   a 
  wilderness 
  and 
  could 
  be 
  visited 
  only 
  by 
  special 
  permission, 
  which 
  

   was 
  difficult 
  to 
  obtain. 
  The 
  animals 
  were 
  unmolested 
  except 
  during 
  

   the 
  rare 
  hunting 
  trips 
  of 
  the 
  Czar, 
  when 
  few 
  were 
  killed. 
  Further 
  

   protection 
  was 
  given 
  them 
  against 
  wild 
  carnivorous 
  animals 
  and 
  

   against 
  hunger 
  in 
  winter, 
  when 
  supplies 
  of 
  hay 
  were 
  distributed 
  to 
  

   different 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  forest. 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  all 
  these 
  precautions 
  the 
  

   animals 
  were 
  slowly 
  dying 
  out, 
  not 
  only 
  because 
  of 
  a 
  gradual 
  decrease 
  

   in 
  their 
  number, 
  but 
  because 
  the 
  percentage 
  of 
  bulls 
  among 
  the 
  young 
  

   was 
  abnormally 
  large. 
  Their 
  complete 
  extinction, 
  which 
  was 
  ap- 
  

   proaching, 
  was 
  accelerated 
  during 
  the 
  World 
  War 
  by 
  the 
  wild 
  hunts 
  of 
  

   German 
  officers 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  German 
  occupation 
  of 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  

   Russia. 
  Some 
  Russian 
  scientists 
  suppose 
  that 
  their 
  extinction 
  is 
  due 
  

   to 
  too 
  close 
  interbreeding 
  among 
  animals 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  herd, 
  but 
  it 
  may 
  

   have 
  been 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  natural 
  senility 
  of 
  the 
  race. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  

   bison 
  of 
  eastern 
  Europe 
  was 
  reduced 
  to 
  a 
  single 
  herd 
  and 
  the 
  extinc- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  animals 
  was 
  incessantly 
  and 
  surely 
  approaching 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  

   all 
  the 
  protection 
  given 
  them. 
  

  

  A 
  sharp 
  contrast 
  to 
  the 
  fate 
  of 
  the 
  Russian 
  bison 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  that 
  of 
  

   the 
  American 
  bison, 
  a 
  close 
  relative 
  of 
  the 
  European, 
  which 
  was 
  nearly 
  

   exterminated 
  by 
  the 
  white 
  man 
  after 
  he 
  invaded 
  North 
  America. 
  A 
  

   few 
  hundred 
  of 
  these 
  animals 
  that 
  had 
  found 
  protection 
  in 
  reservations 
  

   of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  Canada 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  prolific. 
  They 
  

   have 
  increased 
  to 
  a 
  number 
  so 
  large 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  become 
  necessary 
  to 
  

   kill 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  to 
  avoid 
  overcrowding 
  the 
  reservations. 
  The 
  

   extinction 
  of 
  these 
  animals 
  by 
  extermination 
  has 
  been 
  easily 
  stopped 
  

   by 
  the 
  protection 
  given 
  them. 
  The 
  difference 
  between 
  the 
  fate 
  of 
  

   the 
  American 
  and 
  the 
  European 
  bison 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  Amer- 
  

   ican 
  bison 
  was 
  of 
  a 
  prolific 
  race; 
  its 
  vital 
  forces 
  are 
  preserved, 
  even 
  

   though 
  it 
  suffered 
  closer 
  interbreeding 
  than 
  the 
  European 
  bison, 
  which 
  

   belonged 
  to 
  a 
  race 
  that 
  was 
  already 
  in 
  process 
  of 
  extinction. 
  

  

  