The whale has become a symbol of world concern for the preservation of wildlife, concern mostly by people who have not the faintest idea that there is more than one kind of whale, and who do not care about these distinctions anyway. So on the opening day of this year's International Whaling Commission meeting, June 25th, in London, readers of The Times were greeted with a half-page advertisement illustrated with a vertical picture of the blue whale, and titled ‘One is killed every 20 minutes. Is this carnage really necessary?’. The ensuing appeal for the implementation of the Stockholm Conference's call for a ten-year moratorium on commercial whaling was signed by twenty distinguished conservationists, headed by TRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and the Duke of Edinburgh, and nine conservation bodies, including the Fauna Preservation Society, which contributed £200 towards the cost. The FPS Chairman, Sir Peter Scott, and two Vice-Presidents, Sir Frank Fraser Darling and Sir Julian Huxley, were among the individual signatories, who also included the President and Director-General of IUCN, Commander Jacques Cousteau, Professors Jean Dorst and Rene Dubos, Dr Paul Ehrlich, Dr Thor Heyerdahl, Dr Konrad Lorenz, Dr Sicco Mansholt, and the Chairman of the Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), Dr J. E. Smith.

On 3rd March 1973 the British Government signed in Washington the ‘Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora’. This, when it is ratified, will govern the trade in hundreds of kinds of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and other animals, besides many plants. Its implementation will set Great Britain and the other signatories an onerous task.

Leopards still occur in considerable numbers in Ethiopia, but cheetahs, though widespread, are not numerous and are still declining, according to this report of the author's survey of their status, made in January–February 1973 for IUCN. And the pressures on both species are too great to allow even present numbers to be maintained. The trade in skins flourishes, despite protection, and villagers and city merchants alike boast of their ability to supply skins at any time, often in considerable quantities. More leopard skins are being sold in 1973 than ever before, and the supply cannot keep up with the demand—despite the moratorium recommended by the International Fur Trade Federation.

The author's 1972 census, following one the previous year, of the mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes, which straddle the Zaire–Rwanda–Uganda borders, shows a small but still declining population. All the signs, including the behaviour of the gorillas, one of which fled screaming at the sight of one of the observers, suggests that the decline is due largely to human interference. As the entire area has national park or game reserve status the urgent need is to enforce the law.

The author spent three years (1969–1972) in Niger's National Park W (sq called because of its shape), working for the Government as a wildlife biologist. This article contains notes on the three animals that have become extinct in Niger in the last few decades and also on those that are rapidly disappearing today.

The late Mary Gough was an accurate and dedicated observer of wildlife, and its habitats. In the last ten years she spent long periods in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, and was part author, with R. M. Lawton, of a paper on elephant grazing and browsing in the Luangwa in Oryx, May 1970. She was killed in the field in 1971. These notes have been compiled from her detailed diaries by Ray Lawton and her sister, Evelyn Millward, as a memorial to her work. Miss Millward also paid for Mrs Gough's photographs to be reproduced in colour. The introduction and the discussion are by Dr Lawton and Miss Millward.

The author went to Niger in August–September 1972 to report and advise on the wildlife situation. This was as a result of a report by two residents, Mr and Mrs Barry Humphrey, describing the serious and continuing decline in Niger's wildlife, especially among the larger desert mammals, and the government's inability to raise the necessary money and manpower to protect it In particular, poaching in the W National Park in the south, and hunting mainly by Europeans in the Aïr Mountains in the north, where a large French mining company has concessions, are seriously depleting wildlife populations, notably addax and scimitar-horned oryx, both vulnerable species in the Red Data Book, and both desert-living species that can survive in the drought-ridden areas where cattle are dying and people starving. This article covers the gist of his report and recommendations.

In 1971 John MacKinnon spent seven months in Sumatra studying orang-utans in the wild. This report compares his findings with those of his earlier and much longer study in Sabah, the report of which was published in Oryx September 1971, and also comments on some other mammals in his study area, including the Sumatran rhino.

Covering more than a million and a half acres, Los Glaciares National Park in Patagonia has great possibilities as a wildlife sanctuary. But fanning, sport and hunting take precedence over wildlife except in the highest parts that are difficult of access. The author spent a month in the park in 1971, making a film for BBC television.