Cecily Shoots a Rhinoceros: Big Game Hunting in British Somaliland and the 1900 Convention for the Preservation of Wild Animals, Birds and Fish in Africa

Figures & data

Figure 1. Edward Linley Sambourne, “Vain Regrets!” Punch 6 June 1900, 401. The image shows Europe, as a goddess, clutching the convention in front of a gathering of animals. L-R: lion, elephant, eland, rhinoceros, zebra, giraffe, hippopotamus, vulture, ostrich. In the foreground are a great auk, a dodo and a large bird’s egg. The caption reads: “Shade of the Great Auk (to Ghost of the Dodo). ‘Ay, my dear, if something like this had only happened in our time!’” In fact, the African animals depicted were granted different levels of protection under the Convention, with elands and giraffes allotted the highest protection on account of their rarity, and vultures on account of their usefulness. By contrast, the Convention sought to reduce lion populations “within sufficient limits.”⁷¹