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MAMMALS 



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Alaska's wildlife resources are of 

 vital importance to its economy and 

 the welfare of its residents. "\Miat 

 happened to wildlife in the western 

 States as unplanned settlement de- 

 stroyed habitat must not happen in 

 Alaska — one of the most important 

 wildlife regions of the world. 



To preserve the varied and 

 unique mammal population in 

 Alaska, wise use of these resources 

 must be the keynote of its conserva- 

 tion program. 



Early Alaskan mammals — Nat- 

 ural erosion and mining operations 

 have uncovered widespread evi- 

 dence of pre-Ice-Age mammals in 

 Alaska. The skeletal material in- 

 cludes bones of moose, elk, musk 

 ox, caribou, wolf, bear, and squir- 

 rels that have living representatives 

 in today's wildlife. 



Extinct species include mastodon, 

 mammoth, horse, camel, giant 

 bison, puma, and saber-toothed 

 tiger. These fossil remains indi- 

 cate a former climate much milder 

 than that of today, which permitted 

 the growth of redwood, elm, grape, 

 and other plants not now found in 

 Alaska. As with animal life, there 

 are connecting links between the 

 vegetation of the pre-Ice Age and 

 modern times as demonstrated by 

 the willows, birches, and cotton- 

 woods. 



Bears — Alaska's big and varied 

 bear population includes the Alaska 

 brown bear, largest meat-eater on 

 land, whose top weight is as much 

 as 1,600 pounds. This bear and its 

 cousin, the grizzly, still roam vast 

 areas of Alaska, up the mainland 

 coastal mountains to subarctic re- 

 gions, and among the mountain 

 ranges of the interior. They are 

 numerous on Admiralty, Baranof, 

 and Chichagof Islands, the Kodiak- 

 Afognak group, and the Alaska 

 Peninsula. 



Tliere is a noticeable resemblance 

 between brown and grizzly bears. 



BROWN BEAR 



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