1. Direct Extermination. - Meat and Eggs. - Hides Furs and Feathers. - Souvenirs. - Superstitious Beliefs. - Live-Animal Trade. - Trophy Hunting and Morbid Pleasure in Killing. - Animals as Competitors. - 2. Indirect Extermination. - Destruction of the Natural Vegetation. - Drainage of Wetlands. - Ravaged Waters. - Air Pollution. - Radioactive Radiation. - Animal Traffic Victims. - Domestic Animal Diseases. - Animals as Indirect Victims of Biocides. - Denaturalized Fauna. - 3. Local Extermination. - 4. The Biology of Extinction. - Killed Off and Dying Out. - The Extermination Process. - The Dangers of Island Life. - The Balance of Nature. - Man and the Balance of Nature. - 5. Protecting Nature. - The Necessity of Research. - Nature Protection Through Conservation. - Maintaining and Breeding Threatened Animal Forms in Captivity. - Nature Protection Through Restoration. - Wildlife Management. - In Closing. - Appendix I. List of Bird and Mammal Forms Already Extinct. - Appendix II. List of the Most Gravely Threatened Animal Forms. - Literature. Language: English