34 ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
The handling of 1,500 real mouflon skins as 
fur—or on any other commercial basis—is a 
crime and a disgrace sufficient to bring the 
blush of shame to any but the most brazen cheek. 
Whatever nation would permit such a slaughter, 
or permit the exportation of real mouflon skins 
for any commercial purpose, would be highly 
culpable, and deserving of the execration oi 
zoologists and nature lovers, until she apologized 
to the world and pledged herself to do better. 
The beautiful mouflon, which is the only moun- 
tain sheep of Europe, is now numerically down 
to a point so low, and is so near to oblivion, that 
not even ten skins should be spared for com- 
mercial purposes, much less the appalling num- 
ber of one thousand five hundred. How could it 
be possible for all the poachers of southern 
Europe to find and kill such a number? 
This great output of furs and pseudo-furs is 
due to enormously increased activities on the 
part of trappers and hunters all over the world, 
spurred to their utmost diligence by the tempta- 
tion of high prices. The previous balance, or 
half-way balance, of natural demand and legiti- 
mate supply has been wiped out, we fear, for- 
ever. 
In all probability the feverish quest for skins 
with hair upon them will go on with accelerating 
speed until total extinction is suddenly an- 
nounced—precisely as the bison millions were 
suddenly snuffed out in 1882-8-4. That dra- 
matic ending came so suddenly that even the 
buffalo hunters and skinners were not aware 
of what they had accomplished until they re- 
turned from the barren ranges of Montana in 
1885, quite empty-handed. 
THe TRAGEDY OF THE KOoALA 
Australia’s Zoological Novelty Adopted, Ex- 
ploited and Almost Exterminated. 
For anyone who has the time and the inclina- 
tion it would be an interesting task to add up 
the totals of the fur-bearing animals that have 
been sold during the last two years in the fur 
auctions of St. Louis, New York, Montreal and 
London. For some species the figures would 
stagger the imagination and create profound 
wonder that our continental stock of fur-bearing 
animals could for even two years survive such 
slaughter. 
As an easily calculated illustration let us 
take the case of one of the pseudo-fur animals 
of Australia. Zoologically, the koala is one of 
the most interesting of the many bizarre and 
remarkable animals of Australia. It is a tree 
dweller, it feeds on the leaves of the eucalyptus, 
it harms nothing and nobody, and there is every 
reason why a creature so interesting and so 
harmless should survive. If Australia ever 
loses this species, then Australia will distinctly 
be the poorer thereby, and her regret over the 
loss will be permanent. 
Up to date only two living koalas ever have 
landed in North America. One came to the 
New York Zoological Park in October, 1920, 
and for it the Zoological Society agreed to pay 
the very substantial sum of $1,250. All haste 
was made to photograph the animal before it 
could shuffle off its mortal coil, and this foresight 
was well timed. The photographs were secured, 
and while the animal was virtually in the course 
of transference from seller to purchaser, it died. 
Its portrait is published herewith. 
Now, the hair of the koala looks at a little 
distance like fur, and the withering glance of 
the fur trade has fallen upon it. The fur trade 
demanded the life and the pelt of the koala, and 
the Australian slaughterers were prompt in re- 
sponding. ‘The records show that in five of the 
auction sales of fur recently held in the United 
States and Canada, the appalling number of 
32,376 koala skins, absurdly listed as ““wom- 
bat,” were disposed of. 
Now, what was the value at stake in that 
awful slaughter? The records of the fur sales 
show that these skins fetched from 70 cents to 
$1.25 each, with $1.50 as the highest price for 
a very few extra choice skins! This means that 
to the Australian destroyers those animals 
meant a cash return, in Australia, of not more 
than 50 cents each. 
I know of no case of fur slaughter more 
wicked than this. Unless the provinces of Aus- 
tralia take thought for the morrow and stop the 
awful destruction for commercial purposes that 
now is going on among their mammals, in a 
comparatively short time it will be possible to 
figure up the census of the mammals of Aus- 
tralia from the catalogues of the fur sales, be- 
cause no fauna on earth long can withstand the 
strain that has been put upon the mammals of 
the antarctic continent. Recently we have 
learned that some of the provinces of Australia 
have taken alarm at the slaughter of the koala 
and have placed an embargo on the further ex- 
portation of koala skins. 
AREA OF FurR-BEARING ANIMALS 
The most deeply tragic feature of the fur 
trade’s slaughter is the fact that it covers fully 
one-half of the land area of the world and em- 
braces a long list of species. The accompany- 
ing map of the world shows in black the regions 
