. . . The general decline of the Caribbean 

 fauna is, however, largely a result of human 

 interference and none of the natural destructive 

 factors, at least in the last four centuries, 

 appears to have played a significant role. 



J. H. WESTERMANN * 



X I The pearl of the antilles? 



Although the Bahamas continue to be, as in the past, the 

 center of abundance for the American flamingo, these birds are 

 likewise found on the coasts of Cuba, Hispaniola, Yucatan (which 

 we had already visited), and across the Caribbean on the islands 

 of Bonaire, La Orchila, and perhaps other insular habitats off the 

 Venezuelan coast. In addition, small numbers of this same race 

 have been discovered nesting on the isolated Galapagos Islands in 

 the Pacific. Of all these locations, Cuba was not only the nearest 

 at hand, but seemed to offer definite possibilities as the site of 

 important nesting colonies of Phoenicopterus ruber. 



Beginning in 1948, Harold Peters of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service made special note of the number and location of all 

 flamingo flocks observed by him while conducting aerial surveys 

 of waterfowl in the Greater Antilles. This information, though 

 limited to the winter season only, provided an excellent starting 

 point. I went to Havana and joined Abelardo Moreno, head of 

 * Nature Preservation in the Caribbean. 

 160 



