US Fish & Wildlife Service
Date of this Version
1969
Citation
1696 Jones & Paradiso
Abstract
The number of each species of mammal reported on Form 3-177 for importation into the United States in 1969 is listed and discussed. The major groups of mammals reported for importation are compared with lists of mammals used in research, lists of rare and endangered species, lists of mammals whose importation is restricted, and lists of mammals imported in 1968.
For some time, thousands of live mammals have been imported each year into the United States, for zoos, for research institutions, for the pet trade, and for private citizens. No listing of these importations was made before 1966, when Federal regulations made accounting mandatory. Since then, annual summaries of the total numbers of live mammals and other wildlife declared at ports of entry have been prepared by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife as Wildlife Leaflets. Also since 1966, the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources (National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences) has provided some information on the number of mammals used for research. This information was obtained from questionnaires returned by breeders, dealers, and users of laboratory animals. A list of mammals imported into the United States in 1968 was presented by Jones (1970).
The purpose of this report is to list, by species, the number of mammals declared for importation into the United States in 1969. Scientists and others may be interested in this list because: it will indicate pressures exerted on certain populations of wild mammals and the need for their conservation; it may reveal species that could become pests if established in the wild after escape; it will help mammalogists determine the source of exotic species found in the wild; it will indicate taxa of mammals that must be identified at ports of entry to prevent importation of prohibited mammals; it may suggest improvements in procedures of recording declarations of imported wildlife; and it may indicate the availability of species that are useful in research. Comparison of this list with that issued for 1968 (Jones, 1970) and with lists to be issued in the future, may indicate trends or changes in importance of various species in research.
Comments
Special Scientific Report—Wildlife No. 147 Washington, D. C.