In general form the sea otter, Enhydra lutris resembles the weasel and river otter, of which animals it is a large relative. The male attains a weight of 85 pounds, the female about 65 pounds; the young at birth weigh from 3 to 5 pounds. It is peculiar among members of its family, the Mustelidae, in having deserted dry land and fresh water to take up a marine life. Among marine mammals it is peculiar in its adaptation to the sea. It does not possess an insulating layer of blubber but is protected from the chill of North Pacific waters by a blanket of air trapped among the fine and closely packed fibres of its inch-long delicate fur. Unlike the river otter and fur seal, the sea otter has but little protective coating of guard hair. The fine guard hairs present add to its beauty but do not offer much protection to the soft under-fur. Unlike other maring mammals, the sea otter has never taken to the open sea. It usually feeds in shallow water from 5 to 50 feet in depth. Its food consist primarily of such sedentary forms as sea urchins, rock oysters, mussels, a variety of snail-like molluscs and, in California, abalones. Occasionally fish and octopus are eaten.

The idea of national parks in Argentina started in 1903 with the gift of 7,500 hectares to the Argentine nation by Francisco P. Moreno, one of the earliest Argentine naturalists. But even this area, since greatly enlarged, did not receive legislative guarantee until 1934, after the late Dr. Hugo Salomon had repeatedly insisted that the integrity of national parks and reserves could only be assured by legal enactment. Fourteen areas, including three still only projected, are set aside as national parks or other forms of nature reserves in Argentina. Of the six northerly reserves all but Iguazú and Finca El Rey belong to the Chaco formation. All the southern reserves lie in the Cordillera of the Andes, except for Laguna Blanca in the Precordillera and the national monument Los Bosques Petri-ficados in the Patagonian plateau. Los Alerces, Nahuel Huapi, Lanin and Iguazú conform more or less to the requirements of national parks laid down by the Convention on Nature Protection and Wild Life Preservation in the Western Hemisphere 1940; this the Argentine Government has signed.

The Tristan da Cunha group includes four islands; Tristan itself with its near neighbours Nightingale and Inaccessible, and Gough Island which lies 230 miles to the S.S.E. The group was discovered by Portuguese seamen in the early sixteenth century, but permanent occupation did not begin until 1810, when a small settlement was founded on Tristan. The Tristan Islanders, who now number over 250, have visited Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands regularly,% but Gough remained little visited and practically unknown until the South African Tristan da Cunha Expedition went there in 1948. As a result of this expedition the Tristan da Cunha Development Company was founded and a few years later they commenced regular exploitation of the crawfish around the coasts. In 1955 the Gough Island Scientific Survey took up residence in The Glen, Gough Island, and their hut now forms the nucleus of a South African Weather Station.

Research.—The Fulbright organization in the U.S.A. has provided three experienced scholars to study biological problems in the Parks and they commenced work in October, 1956. Dr. Hal Buechner is working the Murchison Park studying, in particular, the Uganda kob and elephant migration. Dr. George Petrides and Dr. Wendell Swank are working the Queen Elizabeth Park on the hippopotamus population and the general effect of the grazing and browsing animals on the vegetation which is their food supply. Meanwhile Dr. Hugh Cott from Cambridge has continued his work on crocodiles.

On 21st December, 1956, while on a routine visit to the Nyamasagani area of the Park, I heard a great commotion in the bush and found that it was caused by a herd of elephants. Part of the herd was spread out, but on the left there was a closely packed mass of animals all facing outwards. In the centre of them was a small black slimy object, which turned out to be a new born calf. The birth had clearly just taken place because the mother, easy to identify by her condition, and another cow elephant were removing the membrane covering the calf. This was at 11.15 a.m. For the next four hours the elephants remained under observation.

In 1938, when I took over the Sibasa reserve on the borders of the Kruger National Park, I found that professional native poachers had established their kraals and lands all along and just outside its boundary. There were miles of cultivated lands, all with massive bush fences. In these, gaps were left at intervals of five to twenty yards, and in every gap was placed a steel wire snare. During the night when all was quiet the animals would leave the park to raid the native lands. Sometimes the poachers' catch would be so great that the snared animals could not be dealt with before the vulture and hyaenas had completely devoured the carcases. The wanton waste was terrific.

The number of species in danger of disappearing from the earth increases every year. Nevertheless, even the brief story of the two species belonging to the genus of bison cannot fail to evoke a striking picture of the two different ways in which man proceeds with his destruction of the animal world. One of these ways is obvious: the other may be almost imperceptible.

Wild life preservation in Africa and the national park system has as its foundation the 1933 London Convention for the Protection of African Fauna and Flora. Article 2 of this international convention reads: “The expression national park shall denote an area … set aside for the propagation, protection and preservation of wild animal life and vegetation for the benefit, advantage and enjoyment of the general public …” and … “facilities shall, so far as possible, be given to the general public for observing the fauna and flora in national parks.”

Ecology may be called the science of the relations of animals and plants to their environment and to one another. But this is only true if we remember that the word “animals” includes man.

We like to think of man as in a class by himself, spiritually or intellectually. But as an influence on the earth, man's role is that of an animal that has managed to multiply enormously, both in numbers and in capacity to affect other parts of nature, usually for the worse, and usually without noticing it.

A good conservation programme may be considered under four headings,

The need for modern and flexible legislation.

Control of reserves.

Policy formulation.

The enlistment of public sympathy.

The need for modern and flexible legislation.—The first essential is legislation to protect fauna from destruction either by farmers or “sportsmen”. In Western Australia we have almost model legislation along these lines. There is “blanket” protection for all mammals and birds, while provision has been made for some to be declared unprotected should all the circumstances warrant it. In other words the long-established privilege of human beings in English countries to be considered innocent until proven guilty, has been extended to these two major groups of animals. Reptiles are still outside this “blanket”, though some species have been given safety, but by and large, this legislation can be considered satisfactory. Yet a negative attitude to conservation is scarcely sufficient; there is the question of preserving the habitat. Without this, many species must inevitably disappear.

The first bulletin on fauna conservation in Western Australia, published in 1956, contains an article by Mr. A. R. Main, of the University of Western Australia, on the importance of pure research in conservation. In developing his theme, Mr. Main tells of investigations into the natural history of a small wallaby, Setonix brachyurus, the quokka.