From 1949 to 1960 the barren-ground grizzly bear was totally protected in the Northwest Territories of Canada, with the result that numbers increased and so did their range. But pressure from trappers led in 1960 to an amendment legalising die killing of grizzlies in defence of life or property, and in 1964, despite the views of wildlife biologists and organisations, another amendment deprived the bears of all protection from licensed native hunters. The author, who is Research Supervisor of the Eastern Region, Canadian Wildlife Service, and has visited the Canadian Arctic almost every year since 1949, points out that the grizzly bear population there is now so low that a relatively small amount of hunting could reduce the breeding population and lead to the extinction of this magnificent animal.

Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania is one of the few places left in Africa where the black rhinoceros is still frequent and can be regularly seen and photographed by the visitor. The crater floor, an area of 100 square miles, is the home of a great variety of game animals. Most numerous are the wildebeest which numbered over 14,000 in the aerial count made by Watson and Turner in 1964. The same count showed more than 5,000 zebra in the crater, 2,000 gazelle, 350 eland, 50 kongoni, 30 hippopotamus, 20 elephant, 25 lion and also waterbuck, mountain reedbuck and steinbuck.

The thylacine, now confined to Tasmania, is not only one of the rarest but also one of the most elusive animals. The accidental killing of one in 1961 prompted the Tasmanian Animals and Birds Protection Board to follow up the detailed records it had been collecting over the years with a field investigation. Aided by a grant from the government, the expedition set out in October, 1963, led by Dr Guiler. The thylacine, however, maintained its reputation for elusiveness.