Abstract
THE Convention for the Protection of the Fauna and Flora of Africa, signed on behalf of nine Govern-ments in London on November 8, 1933, became effective on January 14, 1936. The ratified articles have therefore come into force in all the African territories of Great Britain, Belgium, Egypt, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the Union of South Africa (Science Service, Washington, D.C.). As a result, gorilla, okapi, white rhinoceros, pigmy hippopotamus and eighteen other rare wild animals, together with the unique plant of the Kalahari Desert, Welwitschia, are now absolutely protected. Protection almost as complete is afforded to a series of animals in List A, which may not be killed for ordinary purposes at all, either by natives or whites, but may be taken in strictly limited numbers, with Government permission, for important scientific purposes. There are included such African elephants as possess tusks less than ten pounds in weight. If the tusks be heavier than ten pounds, the elephants fall into Class B, where they are partnered by black rhinoceros, the two species of giraffe, the wild ostrich and several kinds of egrets and hornbills. Class B animals may be hunted only by special licence, whereby the area, time and extent of the hunting is strictly limited and defined.
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Protection of Wild Life in Africa. Nature 137, 608–609 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137608d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137608d0