Abstract
REFERENCE has already been made in NATURE to the recent international conference on this subject held in London (Nov. 18, p. 776). At a general meeting of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire on December 4, the president, the Right Hon. the Earl of Onslow, discussed in some detail the convention which has been agreed on as a result of the international conference. Lord Onslow said that in the first place the convention lays down as a principle that it is desirable to establish in all territories if possible national parks or strict natural reserves. A national park is a permanent institution such as the Kruger Park in South Africa, where fauna and flora may be strictly preserved for the benefit of the general public. A strict natural reserve is a similar area but it is devoted purely to scientific purposes, that is to say, it is primarily for the preservation of various species. With reference to the protection of special animals, in the annex to the convention there are two classes: animals the protection of which is of special urgency, and those which do not require such rigorous protection but need a modified form of protection under which they cannot be hunted without a special licence. On the question of trophies, the convention lays down a method of controlling by means of the Customs in each territory the export and import of trophies, trophies meaning heads, horns, tusks, eggs and so forth, in fact anything which is produced by an animal. Certain methods of hunting are prohibited, notably by the use of motor-cars and aircraft. Similarly, poisons or explosives for killing fish are prohibited, and also dazzling lights or nets and pits.
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Protection of the Fauna and Flora of Africa. Nature 132, 886 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132886a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132886a0