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STATEMENT OF MR. CHARLES H. CALLISON, EXECUTIVE VICE 

 PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, ACCOMPANIED BY 

 MISS CYNTHIA WILSON 



Mr. Callison. At my left is Miss Cynthia Wilson, Washington rep- 

 resentative of the National Audubon Society. 



I am Charles H. Callison, the executive vice president. 



I have my office in New York City and spend as much time in Wash- 

 ington as I can, but not enough, because I always enjoy my work here 

 and particularly on the Hill where I have the opportunity to see many 

 old friends. Miss Wilson has her office and spends most of her time 

 in Washington. 



Mr. Chairman, as an organization concerned with the conservation 

 of wildlife and with man's relationships to his environment, the Na- 

 tional Audubon Society believes it is time to examine anew our national 

 policy with respect to marine mammals. The available evidence indi- 

 cates that most of the whales have been overexploited for commercial 

 purposes and some species driven to the brink of extinction. We all 

 know how the sea otter was nearly wiped out by man's greed for its 

 valuable fur until complete protection beginning in 1911 allowed it 

 slowly to recover its numbers in coastal areas of southern Alaska and 

 in a colony off the Big Sur sec^tion of California. The Pacific fur seal 

 was decimated before an International Convention in 1911 halted 

 indiscruninate slaughter in the open seas and brought the species under 

 management at breeding grounds in the Pribilof Islands and on suni- 

 lar breeding islands under Kussian jurisdiction. 



We fear that the polar bear may be sliding downhill because of 

 trophy hunting promoted by airlines, outfitters, and other interests 

 who cash in on the ambition of so-called sportsmen to prove their man- 

 hood iDy shooting one of these magnificent but virtually defenseless 

 animals. In the old days it was indeed a test of manhood to get where 

 the polar bears are. 'But stalking polar bears by aircraft and shooting 

 them with high power rifles takes about as much skill and courage as 

 swatting a fly. About as much bravery and skill also, as shooting eagles 

 from a helicopter. 



The furseal harvest has been brought into question by widespread 

 public concern about the humaneness of slaughtering the animals by 

 clubbing them. This is a concern shared by the National Audubon So- 

 ciety. The basic philosophic and moral question, we think, is not 

 whether a bullet or a club or some other weapon is more humane, but 

 whether it is moral to kill animals for the sake merely of catering to 

 man's vanity. Would anybody in the world go cold or unclad if there 

 were no coats made of the luxury furs ? The question comes into sharper 

 focus when poaching for the luxury trade threatens the very existence 

 of a species, as in the case of some of the great wild cats. 



In the case of whales, I don't think the ruinous exploitation of the 

 great cetaceans can be attributed to man's vanity as much as simple 

 greed for quick profits in an international situation where there has 

 been no real control. Wlien vanity or profits are involved, will mankind 

 ever exercise voluntary self-restraint in the absence of control ? His- 

 tory doesn't offer much hope. The early Audubon societies tried to 

 shame women out of wearing the plumage of wild birds with some 



