246 On the trail of vanishing birds 



us constantly alert to fluctuations on the bedside chart of each 

 patient. 



From a biological point of view this means, in large part, a sound 

 knowledge of species characteristics, of which we remain woefully 

 ignorant in most instances. Can we hope that twenty-eight whoop- 

 ing cranes will have the genetic vigor to increase their numbers 

 and survive indefinitely as a race? Do we know if our present 

 estimates of safe productivity rates for the flamingo are correct? 

 Do we understand the exact ecological demands of our roseate 

 spoonbills, and can we be sure that they will be capable of the 

 adaptations that may be required of them in the next twenty 

 years? Unless we can continue serious work in the direction of 

 such answers we will be giving little beyond lip service to our 

 endangered species. We will be preparing their obituaries instead 

 of saving their lives. 



Although most of our presently endangered species can trace 

 the original causes of their problem back many years, the world 

 in which they live so precariously today is providing new threats, 

 streamlined and modern, and armed with potentials that are not 

 pleasant to contemplate. A basic reason for many of these new 

 threats is the skyrocketing human population in North America, 

 in Africa, in the Caribbean countries, in nearly every part of the 

 world. It has been the most potent cause of the American fla- 

 mingo's present dilemma. In Latin America and the Caribbean 

 islands the human population is multiplying two and a half times 

 as fast as anywhere else, according to the tabulations of the Popu- 

 lation Reference Bureau in Washington. This has been aptly 

 referred to as a "population explosion" (Time, October 19, 1953). 

 A few steps are being taken with regard to the preservation of 

 wildlife. In Venezuela, the International Committee for Bird 

 Preservation has prevailed on the government to do something for 

 the flamingo and the seriously endangered red siskin (Spinus 

 cucullatus). Elsewhere this same organization has been giving 

 attention to the scarlet ibis (Guara rubra) in Surinam, and has 

 set up a special study of the problems faced by the Cuban race of 

 the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis bairdii), 

 and the Haitian parrot ( Amazona vittata) . Before he had to give 



