XVni. INTRODUCTION 



ground, &c., seems farcical. These inen will not realize 

 that the game is either Government or private property, 

 and they look upon poaching as legitimate " sport." It 

 is largely the poaclaer — in and out of season — who is 

 causing the scarcity of game, and, in order to try and 

 stop hivi, the author appeals to all shooting men with 

 sporting instincts in this country to join the Game 

 Protection Associations, or, at least, to report all cases 

 of illegal shooting which come to their notice. 



I am not a rabid protectionist, and do not advocate the 

 "protect at any price" theory, or the protection of birds 

 and animals when these are destructive to crops, or are 

 otherwise detrimental to the interests of the human 

 race. I admit the wisdom of their destruction or confine- 

 ment to some circumscribed area, but before drastic action 

 is taken let us be sure of our facts. 



For this reason I am at present against the wholesale 

 and indiscriminate slaughter of the game animals in 

 large areas in Zululand, and the total extermination of 

 the Addo Elephants. When they are once gone, nothing 

 can bring them back, and the men who advocate and 

 sanction such acts without full justification and without 

 exhaustive inquiry are taking a grave responsibility on 

 their own shoulders. 



This is also the opinion of one of the leading American 

 authorities. 



This book has therefore been written with a threefold 

 object : Besides being an introduction to the study of 

 South African mammals, this work is also intended as 

 a short manual for the use of sportsmen and travellers 

 and the amateur naturalist generally. 



As the author has spent twelve years amongst wild 

 animals in the National Zoological Gardens, it is also 

 hoped the work may be of some assistance to the workers 



