378 



CONSERVATION AND ITS LESSONS 



sand exist, protected by law ; and they would have gone had it 

 not been for the fact that the buffalo breeds in captivity. The 

 same story may be told of the Alaska fur seal, almost exterminated 

 a few years ago by over hunting and now protected by law. As 

 time goes on and the furs of wild animals become scarcer and 

 scarcer through over killing, we find more and more imperative the 

 need for protection and conservation of many of these fast-vanish- 

 ing wild forms. Already, breeding of some fur-bearing animals 

 in captivity has been tried with success, and substitutes for wild 

 animal skins are coming more and more into the markets. Black 

 and silver fox raising has been tried successfully in many parts of 

 this country and Canada, $2500 to $3000 being given for a single 

 animal. Skunks, martens, and minks are also being bred for the 

 market. At last partly awake to our duty toward the wild 

 mammals of this country, the government has made some wise 

 laws and established a few reservations in our National Parks, 

 so that the future for wild life in this country is safer. 



r^^---^ 













1 *''^Tr^""~~^~~~-^-.-_ 





v>^ 





> ^^^^ 



r"^M»H 



/W-\ "'" 



•■^: 



/~-vy.~!/ '/~U~^. — : 



1 



\\lzP^ 



^ 



-X 



V yTn~p 



- cu. r 





-t^ 



■y Zs- 



? 



^ — \ ' / • 



^--v^,,^ 







- \ •■ 







^^""^^—L—r— ^ 



t 



s ^ 





i 







v. 



\.^ 



L 





\ 





I 



Map showing location of national bird reservations (•) and national 

 game reservations (o) . 



Summary. — Conservation is necessary because we must save 

 our forests and our rapidly vanishing wild life from destruction. 

 Countries where conservation is not practiced show increasing 

 depredations by insects because of the lack of bird life, and desert 



