INTRODUCTION 15 



AFRICA 



As long as the African Continent was occupied by primitive 

 savages, without modern weapons, animal life was, in a large 

 sense, in a virtual state of equilibrium. When European settle- 

 ment began, and firearms were introduced, the death knell of a 

 very considerable proportion of the population of large mammals 

 was sounded. Thus the Atlas Bear (Ursus crowtheri) , the Barbary 

 and the Cape Lions (Leo leo leo and L. I. melanochaitus) , the 

 Quagga (Hippotigris quagga) , Burchell's Zebra (Hippotigris bur- 

 chellii burchellii), the Bubal Hartebeest (Alcelaphus busclaphus 

 buselaphus) , the Rufous Gazelle (Gazella rufina) , and the Blaauw- 

 bok (Hippotragus leucophaeics) have departed finally and completely 

 from the African scene. The typical subspecies of the Cape Harte- 

 beest (Alcelaphus caama) may also be extinct, but imperfect knowl- 

 edge of its distribution precludes a definite statement. A long 

 time previously the Algerian Wild Ass (Asinus atlanticus) became 

 extinct, from unknown causes. These losses by extinction are 

 divided almost equally between South Africa the region most 

 thoroughly settled by Europeans and the Barbary States, where 

 the well-armed Moors long held sway. 



A century ago the Boer hide-hunters decimated the remarkable 

 antelope and zebra fauna of South Africa. In the last half-century, 

 firearms in the hands of improvident and short-sighted natives have 

 wrought extremely serious havoc among the dwindling herds of 

 African game in general. As intertribal warfare has practically 

 ceased, and as the benefits of modern medicine and sanitation have 

 penetrated far into the jungles and deserts, the native populations 

 have increased, and their demands for a meat diet have decimated 

 the game. Encircling fires, a method of hunting practiced on a 

 fairly large scale in the savanna regions, have been extremely 

 destructive, even in the absence of firearms. Professional hunters 

 in the employ of great industrial enterprises, as in various parts of 

 the Belgian Congo, have simply wiped out the antelopes over large 

 areas. Hasty and probably ill-considered campaigns for the control 

 of the tsetse fly have too often resulted in hecatombs of the large 

 game mammals. In recent years the animals of the desert, such as 

 Oryx and Gazelles, have become subject to attack from motor cars. 



In South Africa the Bontebok (Damaliscus dorcas) , the Blesbok 

 (Damaliscus phillipsi) , and the White-tailed Gnu (Connochaetes 

 gnou) no longer roam the free veldt, but have become restricted to 

 enclosed farms and preserves. A remnant of the Cape Mountain 

 Zebra (Hippotigris zebra zebra) was preserved at the eleventh hour. 



