W-ILDLIFE RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION7 
 
 
this conference, which stands for the spiritual union of three peoples: 
the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico, all three des- 
tined to be united by unshakable friendship and I feel it an honor 
at the same time to collaborate in a work of such great importance 
as that of protection of wildlife against indiscriminate hunting and 
exploitation, in order to allow it to propagate species for the benefit 
of the community as a whole. 
   By order of the President of the United States of Mexico, Gen. 
 Lazaro Cardenas, the Department of Forests, Game, and Fish has 
 been pleased to appoint me to attend this conference, and to set 
 forth, as I shall now briefly proceed to do, the conditions under 
 which a number of our wild animals live. 
   The Department of Forests, Game, and Fish established in Janu- 
 ary 1935 by Presidential decree, has drawn up the program for its 
 work from a viewpoint essentially involving conservcation of natu- 
 ral resources. The care of our woods and reforestation of denuded 
 areas is its main purpose, inasmuch as these resources are essential 
 to the life not only of man himself, but of the wild animals living 
 in their depths, for there they find food and shelter, so that it nee- 
 essarily follows that said department also cares for wildlife and 
 takes such steps as may be necessary to prevent extinction of an 
 species and to supervise their rational use for sport, food, trade, and

 industry. 
 Conservation of wildlife in years gone by had been neglected, for 
 lack of proper and constant supervision had made it impossible to 
 enforce legal ordinances enacted for this purpose. Hunting was, as 
 a general rule, practiced without any restrictions whatsoever. The 
 wild animals of each section were not studied, nor were their breed- 
 ing habits and seasons the object of attention, so that no precise 
 data were available in regard to the number of animals of each 
 species killed every year. 
 Mexico's natural fauna, which is very rich, has not suffered actual 
 extinction of any species, but its numbers have been sadly depleted 
 and the Government has realized in time that all must be protected 
 and has enacted laws and provisions to that end. For this purpose 
 it has absolutely prohibited hunting of wild sheep and antelope in 
 order to allow restocking of their natural range on a sufficient scale.

 The deer family constitute the most valuable members of Mexico's 
 wildlife for hunting purposes and is subdivided into the following 
 species: 
 1. Bura or blacktail (Odocoilm8). Mule Deer. 
 2. Whitetail deer or salton (Odacoilus). 
 3. Temazate or guampita; the Brockets (Mazama). 
 The mule deer is extensively hunted, especially in the northern 
 border States, by American hunters who come to Mexico for the 
 purpose, and by the Kickapoo Indians. This tribe lives wholly 
 b the chase. Its headquarters are at Nacimiento, near Muzquiz, 
 Coahuila, and its hunting grounds spread over the States of Coa- 
 huila, Chihuahua, and Nuevo Leon. 
 The Indians usually keep and utilize only the hides and portions 
 of the meat of the deer, leaving the remainder to rot. They have 
 lived in that section since the times of President Juarez, and enjoy 
 a number of special privileges such as hunting, which often degen- 
erates into slaughter. 
 
 
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