FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



Dawson Caribou 



Dwarf Caribou; Dawson Caribou; Queen Charlotte Island 

 Caribou. — Rangifer dawsoni Seton-Thompson, 

 Small in size, antlers poorly developed; color pattern dif- 

 fering from usual Caribou type. General color uniform 

 drab brown without white or black anywhere. Total 

 length, 54 inches; tail vertebree, 3 inches; hind foot, 15 

 inches; height at shoulder, 33 inches. Found only on the 

 Queen Charlotte Islands — Graham Island — and probably 

 extinct. 



******* 

 The Caribou is known to most people as the Reindeer. The 

 Reindeer is an Old World species of Rangifer most like the 

 Barren Ground Caribou of North America. Althouth we 

 have many forms of Caribou in the New World and there are 

 several quite distinct types of this genus (when extreme ex- 

 amples are selected), the common characters are not ob- 

 scured and the animals are easily recognized as Caribou. The 

 members of this genus are the only Deer in North America the 

 females of which are horned. 



Although Caribou range south far enough to overlap the 

 range of other Deer (Odocoileus) and are found with the Moose 

 in many places, the greatest numbers of Caribou are found in 

 the far north where the peculiar adaptability of this animal 

 allows it to successfully combat an environment which the 

 other Deer find impossible. 



The Woodland Caribou, as its name suggests, lives in the 

 northern forests of birch, alder, and conifers. These Deer 

 congregate in bands for the winter but during the summer are 

 scattered as individuals or small family parties. This species 

 has not been able to withstand continued hunting, being 

 rather stupid and slow in escaping danger, and has become 

 exterminated over the extreme southern part of its range. 

 Within the United States it will soon become extinct unless a 

 program of conservation is rigidly adhered to. 



The great herds of Caribou are found on the Barren Grounds 

 and the members of these herds are commonly known as 

 Barren Ground Caribou. Formerly these herds numbered 

 high into the thousands, even the hundred thousands, but in 

 recent years so much extravagant destruction has taken place 

 that now the bands are much smaller. Against modem fire- 

 arms, the Caribou has little chance, and great numbers can be 



532 



