16 CIRCULAR 3, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



and most successful examples of transplantation in Alaskan history. 

 For the purpose of providing a dependable source of meat supply to 

 the Eskimos and other residents of the northwestern parts, a total of 

 1,280 rehideer wei'e brought in from Siberia duruig the 12 years 1891 

 to 1902. Their hicrease for a few years was phenomenal, and despite 

 heavy local use and various attempts at commercialization the herds 

 today are believ^cd to be well established in the famia of the Territory. 

 The general distribution is along the tundra from Bristol Bay north- 

 ward to Barrow. 



FiuUKii 17. — Keiiilruduced musk ox — near Cullegu, in 193o, before siiupnient of 

 herd to Nunivak Inland. (Photo ])y Frank Dufresne.) 



LAND FUR ANIMALS 



Alaska's 20-odd varieties of land fur animals are the basis of the 

 major part of the mcome earned by lumdreds of Indians, Eskimos, 

 and Aleuts. Although many of these native people have developed 

 other ways of inakbig a living, it should be understood that trapping, 

 hmithig, and fishitig must be the mainstay of theii- existence now and 

 for a long time to come. Numerous professional white trappers, 

 old-time residents, and homesteaders also measm^e good times by the 

 numbers and prices of the furs they take. 



Revenues derived from the gathenng of furs in Alasl^a are of such 

 imi)ortance as to rank the bushu^ss tliird among the leading indus- 

 tjies, it being exceeded only by fisheries and mining. Durhig the 83 



