INTRODUCTION 3 



nished dependable supplies of meat and hides, were drawn 

 heavily upon during pioneer stages and later were intensively 

 pursued, in part for sport and in part for incidental food pur- 

 poses. Finally the oceanic species, particularly the larger 

 cetaceans and seals, have been hunted with increasing vigor 

 and improved devices the world over, until at the present day 

 many of the regions formerly productive now no longer repay 

 the effort or expense of pursuit. 



Protective legislation in aid of certain species of commercial 

 or economic importance, began early, as in colonial New 

 England, but in most cases did not come till much later, some- 

 times too late to be of much avail. On the other hand, there 

 have been some mammals that have proved more adaptive or 

 have responded more quickly to a release of the pressure put 

 upon them, and with proper management may prove a de- 

 pendable asset for a long time to come. Any facts that will 

 serve to bring out the needs of those species worth conserva- 

 tional treatment should be of value as a guide to future manage- 

 ment of these natural resources. The last decade has seen much 

 progress in these matters and a wider awareness that the time 

 has come when immediate steps <are necessary to preserve such 

 assets before their depletion has gone too far. 



A long step forward in the preservation and protection of 

 American wildlife was made when, on October 12, 1940, 

 through the agency of the Pan American Union, representa- 

 tives of the nations of the Western Hemisphere affixed their 

 signatures to the Convention on Nature Protection and Wild- 

 life Preservation in the American Republics, thus pledging 

 their countries "to adopt measures for the protection of useful, 

 harmless and ornamental species of plant and animal life. 

 They have thus given formal recognition to the fact that many 

 such species know no national boundaries, and that true con- 

 servation of the gifts of Nature should begin before these 

 resources have been dissipated by thoughtless or selfish de- 

 struction" (from the statement of Dr. Hector David Castro, 

 Minister of El Salvador). The Senate of the United States 

 ratified this convention on April 7, 1941. In the "Annex" to 

 the Convention, three mammals are included the protection 

 of which is declared to be of special urgency and importance in 

 the United States and is to be as nearly complete as possible, 

 namely, the woodland caribou, the sea otter, and the manatee 



