. California fish and game. Fisheries -- California; Game and game-birds -- California; Fishes -- California; Animal Population Groups; Pêches; Gibier; Poissons. 252 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME adults from a buat when tliey are in the water is uncertain, cruel and wasteful. ()n(> never knows the peroentage of wounded animals, for when shot tliey usually sink at once. The young nurse for the greater I)art of the year, so killing a cow usually means the slow starvation of her pup. In killing the pups on the rookeries the skins may be saved. If nearly any sort of animal were thinned in number, on
. California fish and game. Fisheries -- California; Game and game-birds -- California; Fishes -- California; Animal Population Groups; Pêches; Gibier; Poissons. 252 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME adults from a buat when tliey are in the water is uncertain, cruel and wasteful. ()n(> never knows the peroentage of wounded animals, for when shot tliey usually sink at once. The young nurse for the greater I)art of the year, so killing a cow usually means the slow starvation of her pup. In killing the pups on the rookeries the skins may be saved. If nearly any sort of animal were thinned in number, one might naturally suppose that, if there were left a few of each sex of that ainmal, it Mould in time increase until it regained its former numl)er. Such does not always appear to l)e the case. Often when an animal reaches a certain low level in number, it seems unable to recover, but becomes extinct. Hence the cpicstion of thinning out the sea lions should be approached with extreme caution. There is an intricate liahuice maintained between animals that seldom can be disturbed. > Fig. 87. Stellcr's sea lion, after being frightened from the rookery, Ano Nuevo Island. Photograph by Edwin C. Starks. with impunity. Aside from purely sentimental reasons for wishing to preserve the sea lions on our coast, it may develop in time that they have as much value as many other products of the tisheries. It may be pointed out in this connection that the eoi-morants, slieai-- waters and other sea birds, keep themselves pretty well gorged with fishes. As there are thousands of these birds along the coast, the total number of pounds of fishes per year that they consume must amount to considerable. But no one, I hope, will want to, or be allowed to, kill the sea birds on this account. The leopard seal is surely equally as great a fish eater as the sea lion, as are also the several porpoises. Sharks, too, may well cause much of the damage that the sea lions are blamed for. Lastly, destructiv
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