208 EXTINCT BRITISH ANIMALS. 
directed that all woods that had been taken in, or, 
as it was termed, afforested, to the prejudice of the 
owners, should be disafforested, and no more addi- 
tions were to be made. Still further concessions on 
this score were made by Edward I. 
From this time it may be said that the presence 
of ferocious animals in this country was no longer 
tolerated. They were slain wherever and whenever 
they could be found, and only managed to survive 
in reduced numbers, for some few centuries longer, 
in consequence of the utter impossibility of dislodging 
them from the almost impenetrable forests and moun- 
tain fastnesses to which they were driven. Later on, 
when large tracts of forests were purposely cut down 
or burned for the purpose of expelling these animals, 
and statutes were put in force which rewarded 
the slayers of them, their extermination was finally 
accomplished. 
Another cause which has doubtless contributed in 
no slight degree to the extinction of the above-men- 
tioned animals, is the insular character of the country 
which they inhabited. 
As civilization advanced, as forests were cut down, 
mosses drained and moorlands cultivated, they were 
driven further and further away, until finally their 
retreat was cut off by the sea. Unable to retire beyond 
so irresistible a barrier, they gradually succumbed to 
the attacks of their pursuers, or to the altered condi- 
tions of life, which deprived them per force of the 
means of existence. We have seen how fully this 
is exemplified in the case of the reindeer, whose last 
