XXV 

 THE PROTECTION OF USEFUL MAMMALS 



We have seen that, through the intervention of man, with his death- 

 dealing weapons and his sweeping and rapid environmental transforma- 

 tions, many useful mammals, as well as birds and other organisms, have 

 been greatly reduced, brought to the verge of extinction or entirely ex- 

 terminated. Some of the destruction was practically unpreventable, as 

 great herds of bison and elk, large numbers of deer and so on, were 

 wholly incompatible with dense population centers, but a great deal of 

 it could have been prevented. Except for the uncontrolled greed of 

 hide-hunters, small, picturesque herds of bison would still be scat- 

 tered about, to the delight of travellers, an attraction to many pleasure 

 resorts and a source of occasional meat for settlers. A few deer, left 

 in some of the vast areas from which they have been totally destroyed, 

 would now be a source of profit to thousands and of pleasure to mil- 

 lions of people. Had the people soon enough awakened to the serious- 

 ness of the onslaught, the pronghorned antelope would still be seen in 

 small numbers over much of its former range, and people who wish a 

 sight of these beautiful animals would not have to travel into remote 

 and almost inaccessible regions for a bare chance of seeing them. 



Fortunately the dissemination of accurate knowledge upon the sub- 

 ject is slowly developing a strong public sentiment in favor of better 

 protection of our useful wild animals and their re-establishment in re- 

 gions from which they have long since disappeared. One of the first 

 fruits of aroused public opinion was the enactment of better protec- 

 tive laws and their more thorough enforcement. Much yet remains to 

 be done in this direction, but this whole subject is discussed at some 

 length in a special chapter on legislation, and need not be discussed here. 

 Several other movements have been inaugurated that promise important 

 results. 



There is more serious consideration of the biological facts in fram- 

 ing and enforcing bird, mammal and fish laws, than formerly. There is 

 need of much research as a basis for such laws, as many of them are 

 scientifically unsound, based upon hunters' traditions, rather than upon 

 demonstrated truth. For example, there is a serious question as to 



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