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BOOK REVIEWS 
MAN AND WILDLIFE. By C. A. W. Guggisberg. 224 pages. $12.50 
Arco Publishing Co., 219 Park Ave. So., New York 10003. 
iteller’s sea cow: a peaceful, walrus-like creature. 
{abitat: the Bering Straits. 
Miscovered: 1741 by the German naturalist, George William Steller. 
:xtinct: 1768 — twenty-seven years and about twenty hunting expeditions 
later. 
\ new book “Man and Wildlife,” by the distinguished zoologist and con- 
ervation authority, C. A. W. Guggisberg, published by Arco in October, 
ecords the entire history of man’s interaction with the animals, from the 
tone age to the present, documenting the devastation we have inflicted on 
he animal population as well as the conservation efforts we have made. 
Ir. Guggisberg uses the American bison as an outstanding example of both 
he decimation and successful preservation of a species. Before the Euro- 
Yeans arrived here, an estimated FORTY to SIXTY MILLION bison 
camed the American continent, co-existing with the Indians and providing 
he entire sustenance of a number of tribes. But as “civilization” advanced 
cross the continent, bison were systematically destroyed for their meat 
nd skins, to free farm and grazing lands, and as a means of defeating the 
ndians by depriving them of the animal they depended upon for food, 
helter and clothing. 
By 1871 when the railroads were being built through the heart of the 
ison range, the animals were being slaughtered at the rate of four-and- 
ne-half million a year. By 1900, only a few bison in semi-captivity on 
rivate estates and a group of TWENTY bison in Yellowstone National 
ark survived. Then, thanks to the efforts of the distinguished naturalist 
Villiam Hornaday, Colonel Charles J. Jones, and Theodore Roosevelt, the 
\merican Bison Society was established and full legal protection was 
ranted to the huge bovines. Today, 25,000 buffaloes live in the national 
arks and refuges of this country and Canada, and bison are safe for 
osterity. 
We have not been as lucky or as wise with other animals. “Man and 
Vildlife’” discusses numerous species from tiny creatures like the Stephens 
sland wrens—which were completely wiped out by a single cat belonging 
> the lighthouse keeper on the island—to the largest creatures ever to 
nhabit the earth, the whales. If these leviathans are saved, it will only 
e when their population is so reduced by hunting that it is no longer 
vrofitable to send out the huge fleets of whaling ships to kill them. Then, 
erhaps, the few scattered survivors may be able to start breeding again 
nd repopulate the waters. 
Over 200 photographs, many in full color, plus maps, zoological draw- 
ogs, and reproductions of rare animal paintings and sculpture illustrate 
ach point. 
A very useful section consists of a comprehensive continent-by-continent 
rvorld survey of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, together with 
neir principal flora and fauna, detailed lists of the extinct and endangered 
pecies of each area, and a report on the success of conservation efforts. 
The history of our relationship to our fellow animals is not a proud 
ne, but it is not entirely reprehensible either, and Dr. Guggisberg offers 
balanced account of both the good and bad in this narrative. DiW.b. 
