I have previously defined a sanctuary as a place where man
is passive and the rest of Nature active. But this general
definition is too absolute for any special case. The mere
fact that man has to protect a sanctuary does away with his
5 purely passive attitude. Then, he can be beneficially active
by destroying pests and parasites, like bot-flies or
mosquitoes, and by finding antidotes for diseases like the
epidemic which periodically kills off the rabbits and thus
starves many of the carnivora to death. But, except in cases
10 where experiment has proved his intervention to be
beneficial, the less he upsets the balance of Nature the
better, even when he tries to be an earthly Providence.