42 THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF 



GAME RESERVES. 



By F. GiLLETT. 



The hopes of this Society are largely centred at the present 

 moment on reservations for preserving the big game of the world, 

 and no doubt reservations will help to do so for a time ; but that 

 they will more than stave off the evil day, when most of the species 

 have become extinct, I do not for one moment believe. However, 

 my object in writing this article is not to decry the very praise- 

 worthy attempts of the Society, but to point out the many diffi- 

 culties that stand in the way of their attainment, in the hope that 

 these may be overcome. 



I am not going to say anything whatever about game laws and 

 regulations in this article, but confine myself entirely to the question 

 of reservations. 



There is one factor against the preservation of big game which 

 it is quite beyond the powers of this Society to defend itself against, 

 and which will always, like the sword of Damocles, hang over any 

 and every reservation wherever situated. A war or a native rising 

 may in a few weeks sweep away the results of years of care and 

 protection, and against this the Society can do nothing. 



Against all the other dangers to which reservations are liable 

 the Society can raise its voice, and, provided these difficulties are 

 overcome or avoided in the first instance, there is a very reason- 

 able hope that the big game may be saved for years to come. 



A reservation should be large enough not only to cover the 

 migrations, but also to carry large herds of the species it is intended 

 to protect, because it must be borne in mind that very sweeping 

 epidemics frequently occur, and one or more species might be en- 

 tirely exterminated; the larger the herds, the more likely is it that 

 there will be a remnant left with which to commence again. 



Now it is frequently urged that a small reserve well protected 

 is better than a large reserve badly protected. This view, in my 

 opinion, is suicidal, as I do not consider a small reserve is of any 

 use at all, unless you only intend to look a very few years ahead. 



Make your reserve as large as possible, and protect as much of 

 it as you can thoroughly well; the remainder will be better off 

 than if it were not in the reserve at all, and possibly the money 

 question, which is a great difficulty at the present time, may im- 

 prove in the future and make it possible to protect the whole 

 reserve thoroughly well later on. 



A reservation should not have any settlers or natives on it, and, 

 as far as possible, people should not be allowed to pass through it 



