In Latin America crocodilians are being poached and smuggled in thousands every year for their skins, and their future is bleak. Dr Medem, who is Colombia's foremost conservationist and reptile specialist, believes that only international efforts can save the caimans and crocodiles and that first Colombia must be persuaded to join the CITES Convention.

The Cascade wolf Cants lupus fuscus is extinct in the USA. But it may survive in Canada, in the coastal forests of British Columbia, the northernmost part of its original range. But British Columbia gives this highly endangered subspecies no special protection. Over-hunting and hybridisation with neighbouring wolf subspecies and domestic dogs are the chief threats. The author reviews wolf management in coastal British Columbia and suggests changes that would improve the Cascade wolf's prospects, including complete protection of all wolves on wilderness islands where it may survive.

Snow leopards are shy and nocturnal, inhabiting high and difficult mountain country. Nevertheless the author, who spent two months in the winter of 1976–77 in the Langu Valley in the Nepalese Himalaya, is convinced that numbers are declining due to over-hunting, a decline in their natural prey, and the increased use of alpine pastures by man and his livestock. Probably none of Nepal's mountain parks harbour snow leopards, and a large sanctuary for them is urgently needed.