XXXI 



GAME LAWS AND THE PROTECTION OF WILD ANIMALS 



THE international conference for the protection of 

 the African fauna, which was held in London, has 

 passed a number of resolutions as a basis for game laws 

 to be so formulated as to suit the conditions of the dif- 

 ferent sections of the "Dark Continent." 



I must frankly confess that I do not approve the 

 prevailing classification of animals into the useful and 

 the harmful. Man interferes far too radically with the 

 laws of nature. He proscribes animals which inter- 

 fere with his special pursuit and tries to exterminate 

 them. Regarding the wild animals, or rather the ani- 

 mals of the wilderness, the devotees of Diana have laid 

 down the laws which they consider fixed for all time. 

 Hunters and fishermen in Europe wage war against 

 certain species, which they have put down as animals 

 of prey, although they are in reality less harmful to the 

 community at large than the game is to the agricultural 

 interests of certain districts. And yet the farmer is not 

 allowed to kill the game at sight, as he often would like 

 to do. The game laws in civilized countries protect a 

 number of quadrupeds and birds. 



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