The balance of nature is an expression which is apt to be loosely invoked for all manner of purposes, but where wild life is concerned it is often used as an argument to prevent any alteration to an existing state of affairs. Man, however, in actual fact is ceaselessly upsetting the equilibrium of nature and almost every action of his upsets a natural balance, for instance, to mention but a few—developing agriculture, planting forests, cutting out forests, draining swamps, constructing dams and reservoirs, building great airfields or making new roads and railways. All this change is unavoidable and inevitable and no one can foresee the effect it is likely to have on the local wild life; sometimes the results are indeed remarkable. But the narrower interpretation of upsetting the balance of nature refers mainly to a situation in which there is for a variety of purposes the deliberate intent to alter the status of wild life, may be by the introduction of an exotic species, maybe by the elimination of a species already present. Such drastic changes can, though not necessarily, be fraught with considerable danger to the other species, and introductions into a favourable environment where natural enemies are absent or do not develop may result in the unimpeded and disastrous multiplication of the introduced species, such as the well-known examples of the rabbit in Australia, and the English sparrow in the U.S.A. So far my remarks have related to what can be termed an artificial alteration of nature's balance, oblivious of the fact that nature is not static and that nature itself is in a never-ceasing state of change. When I refer to nature not only do I mean the climate, the physical features, the forests, the vegetation and the wild life, but I include primitive man who always was and is, where he still occurs, part of nature. Primitive man filled his own little niche in the order of things, and with his primitive weapons and implements had little lasting effect on the zoological and botanical world around him.

Poaching.—A full-time resident ranger was appointed to this reserve in October, with instructions to ensure that every clause of the wild life protection ordinances was to be strictly enforced, to ensure the survival and increase of those animals that have survived years of snaring and hunting. The subsequent results have shown the necessity for his presence and afford ample proof of the good work he is doing.

The first session of the Indian Board for Wild Life was held at Mysore from the 20th November to 1st December, 1952.

The tiny British colony of Seychelles lies in the midst of the Indian Ocean 900 miles east of Africa. The Islands are unique in being the only oceanic islands composed of continental rocks. They are fragments of a lost continent, a fact reflected in their possession of a whole group of archaic legless amphibians which have only survived as rare relics in the outside world. But besides these obscure creatures which are only of interest to the specialist, there are several other endemic species both of animals and plants, that have happily survived till the present time.

Game Scouts.—It is satisfactory to read that game scouts have been put on the same salary and terms of service as game guards. This has been done in order to enable the Department to enlist and keep good men in spite of the many temptations of their work. The work of game scouts, and there are only 20 of them for the whole Protectorate, is to enforce the preservation laws, whereas game guards are employed chiefly in game control.

After my report was in print I received Bulletin No. 6 of the Commission de la Chasse en Montagne dated the 21st July, 1952. This bulletin contains a very interesting section on the game of Greece and, in particular, a report by M. Georges Livas on the Cretan wild goat and the goats on the island of Ghyaros (Ghiura), in the Northern Sporades, and on the island of Antimilos.

The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed in 1946. It is one of the better examples of healthy international co-operation. This brief article endeavours to give some indication of the scope of the Convention itself and of the Commission which meets annually. For further information it is most convenient to look first at the articles and notes which appear from time to time in the Polar Record and in Norsk Hvalfangst Tidende. The latter journal in its issue for July, 1952, sets out the Convention and its Schedules in full.

The Faunal List of Tristan is thus so far as at present known made up as follows:—

For a small group of islands inhabited by people of European stock for over 125 years, the record of only one species rendered extinct (and that survived by an almost indistinguishable cousin) is better than average and should be easily maintained provided—

(a) the idea of properly “farming” birds is firmly inculcated into the islanders. Abstention from exploitation of scarcer species should be easy so long as the adequate provisioning of the island can be maintained.