MAMMALS AM) BIRDS OF ALASKA 



13 



(loAvn aiul fonvjird across tlio face, tjivo the spocios a distirictivo ajjpoar- 

 ancc. Th(^ races incliido both mountain and barren-ground types and 

 include the Stone, Grant, and the Point Barrow caribou, as well as 

 the IMcGniro race, which occurs along tlui Alaska-Yukon boundary. 

 The animals are found mainly among the higher plateaus of the 

 Alaska and contiguous ranges, although tens of thousands are supported 

 on the Brooks Range north of tlu^ Arctic Circle. An isolated herd of 

 {ho Grant variety roajns the Alaska Peninsula from Katmai National 

 Monmnent to and including Unimak Island. Altogether sonu^ 250,000 

 square miles (fig. 12) in Alaska arcs roved by these nomadic animals 

 during their annual wanderings (fig. 13). Their favoiite foods are 



Figure 13.- 



-Herd of caribou bulls swimming the Yukon River. (Photo by 

 Frank Dufresne.) 



lichens, or "reindeer moss," although they consume much browse also 

 in summer. On refuges provided for the caribou, aggregating 8,829 

 squai-e miles, no hunting is permitted. 



In the heavily forested regions of southeastern Alaska, where the 

 average amiual precipitation is 60 to 140 inches, lives the only true 

 deer indigenous to the Territory. The Sitkan black-tailed deer (fig. 

 14), numbering about 40,000 individuals, occupies about 12,000 

 square miles of range among the islands and also a narrow strip of the 

 mainland shore line from Dixon Entrance to the Gulf of ^Vlaska.(fig- 

 15). It has been transplanted with excellent results to the Prince 

 William Sound islands. This deer is rather small and, being at the 

 extreme north of deer range in North America, it often suffers losses 

 during severe winters. Deep snows and sharp cohl, such as occui" 



423674°— 42 3 



