They crossbreed readily with rein- 

 deer, and some caribou herds are 

 well-mixed with reindeer. 



Throughout their range, these 

 antlered nomads are hunted for tro- 

 phies and meat; extensive hunting, 

 forest fires and tundra fires, and 

 predation by wolves, have reduced 

 their numbers so sharply that the 

 phrase "millions of caribou" no 

 longer applies. Greater protection 

 is the only means of preventing 

 even small migrations from becom- 

 ing spectacles of the past. 



Deer — So far as is known, Alaska 

 has only one true deer, the Sitka 

 black-tailed deer. Its natural range 

 is on the islands of Southeastern 

 Alaska, with a few on the narrow 

 mainland strip. Its range has been 

 extended by transplants north to 

 the islands of Prince William 

 Sound and to Yakutat and west to 

 Kodiak. There are reports that 

 another species of deer, the mule 

 deer, may be spreading into east- 

 ern Alaska from Yukon Territory. 



In May or June the spotted 

 fawns of the Sitka black-tailed 

 deer are born — sometimes three but 

 generally one or twa The ycrung 

 are hidden by the mother, perhaps 



in a thicket of big-leafed devil's- 

 clubs. If found, the fawns should 

 not be picked up as "orphans." 



Characteristic of these deer is 

 their "vertical migration." As the 

 snow melts from higher elevations, 

 many of the deer, particularly 

 bucks and yearlings, climb as 

 high as 2,500 feet. There they stay 

 until late fall when the deep snows 

 force them to lower feeding 

 grounds. By midwinter, if the 

 snow is very deep, all deer may be 

 driven to the beaches where they 

 will eat kelp and other marine veg- 

 etation. Ordinarily, their food 

 consists of huckleberry bushes, 

 ground dogwood, fine meadow 

 grass, skunk cabbage, and cedar. 



In late summer or early fall, 

 hunting the black-tail means a 

 climb of 2,000 feet or more, when 

 they are sometimes at higher al- 

 titudes than the goats. Later in 

 the fall many bucks are taken 

 within a few hundred feet of tide- 

 water. Hunter reports indicate 

 that more deer are taken each year 

 than any other big game in Alaska. 



Wapiti or American elk — In 

 1928, a group of eight wapiti or 

 American elk, were captured in 



SITKA BLACK-TAILED DEER 





ELK 





