VI FOREWORD 



her organizations of the American Committee, as well as special 

 friends. 



On account of its length the publication committee decided to 

 publish Extinct and Vanishing Mammals in two volumes. The 

 late Dr. Glover M. Allen, in a large measure, prepared the volume 

 on Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Western Hemisphere, 

 including also certain marine mammals of all the oceans. The 

 New World volume of more than 600 pages was published in 1942 

 as Special Publication No. 11 of the American Committee for 

 International Wild Life Protection. It was dedicated to the late 

 Dr. John C. Phillips. 



The Committee appreciates the fact that ever-changing condi- 

 tions require additions and supplements to the data in these volumes 

 in order to bring them up to any given date. Nevertheless, keep- 

 ing the information current will be a small task compared with 

 the historical study, the verification of references, the biblio- 

 graphical research, and the evaluation and compilation of informa- 

 tion carried out by Harper and Allen in their pioneer work on the 

 (recently) extinct and vanishing mammals of the Old World and 

 the Western Hemisphere. 



It is our sincere hope that these volumes may serve as a founda- 

 tion of information on which will be built future plans for the preser- 

 vation of vanishing species of mammals in their native habitats. 

 In many cases this may be most effectively brought about within a 

 framework of international cooperation such as the London Con- 

 vention or the Inter-American Convention. In other instances 

 a threatened species may be regarded as a sort of international 

 trust by the country under whose jurisdiction it may fall. For 

 example, if the Great Asiatic One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros 

 unicornis) should vanish from the earth (very few hundred survive 

 today) it would be a world calamity and not of concern merely to 

 the ruler of Assam who controls their last principal hide-out. 



International wild-life conservation should be a concern of all 

 people! We must keep faith with our wild-life heritage and pre- 

 serve it for the wise use of generations to come! 



HAROLD J. COOLIDGE, Jr. 

 (for the Committee) 

 Washington, D. C. 

 April 20, 1945 

 Publication Committee: 



CHARLES M. B. CADWALADER 

 ALEXANDER WETMORE 

 HAROLD J. COOLIDGE, Jr. 



