ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



515 



THE REAL EXTERMINATORS OF BIG 

 GAME. 



BEFORE tlie International Conservation 

 Conference held in Washington, in an ad- 

 dress in behalf of wild life, the Directors of 

 the Zoological Park declared in strong terms 

 that the men who live in or near to the haunts 

 of big game are the real exterminators of our 

 finest wild animals. At this moment, a very 

 aggravating case in point is reported from Fre- 

 mont County. Idaho, on the western side of the 

 Yellowstone Park. 



During the awful weather of the past winter, 

 about 500 elk fled to Fremont County, seeking 

 feeding-grounds by which to survive until 

 spring. Practically all of ihcm were slaugh- 

 tered by the people living there! And this was 

 done, not only in defiance of the dictates of 

 mercy and humanity, but also in defiance of 

 statute law. At the time that slaughter was 

 proceeding, the people of Jackson's Hole (Wy- 

 oming), and the state of Wyoming, were spend- 

 ing nearly $7,000 in the purchase of hay, and 

 in feeding the elk of Jackson's Hole to keep 

 them from starving en masse. 



The following from tlie Boise (Idaho) States- 

 man, of February 25th, and quoted in Outdoor 

 Life Magazine, is of general interest: — 



"E. W. Yoemans has returned from a trip 

 into Fremont County that took him into the 

 Teton Basin country and to the borders of 

 Jackson's Hole. 



" 'The slaughter of elk in that section is 

 something apijalling.' he said. The snow is 

 deep and the animals are driven down toward 

 the settlements. They are helpless and can be 

 picked off with ease. Farmers, not hunters, are 

 the guilty parties. 



"One man told me he knew a farmer who had 

 killed six of the noble animals. He said he 

 would liave complained if the man had not been 

 his neighbor. A mail-carrier informed me he 

 saw forty-two elk struggling through the snow 

 in single file. Two of the animals had been 

 severely wounded and were bleeding and stag- 

 gering. As the animals approach farmhouses 

 they are mowed down. Elk meat, heads and 

 hides are on sale in suspicious quantities. 



"The game law prohibits the killing of more 

 than one elk in a season. The conditions in 

 Fremont County have caused the game warden to 

 be severely criticised. It is stated that no trou- 

 ble would be experienced in securing evidence. 

 So far not an arrest has beem made. Mr. Yoe- 



mans brought back with him a copy of the Ash- 

 ton Enterprise of February 11th. from which the 

 following is taken: 



"Word reached here Wednesday that the day 

 before six elk had been killed at Squirrel. To- 

 daj a rancher brings word to town that nine 

 elk cows and calves crossed his place this week 

 and before the}' had proceeded three miles all 

 but one had been killed. Elk meat was also 

 offered for sale in town to-daj', Thursdav. " 



A GAME-LAW "ACCIDENT' 

 WYOMING. 



IN 



HERETOFORE, whenever a joker has been 

 found stowed away in a new game-law, it 

 has always operated against some wild 

 game species, contrary to the intentions of the 

 majority. For example, in 1907, a clause 

 slipped through the ^lontana legislature remov- 

 ing all protection from the beaver ; which was 

 quickly noted, and made much of by trappers 

 who gladly would trap and kill the last beaver, 

 if they could. 



But this year, the case is reversed. When the 

 Wyoming legislature very laudably passed a law 

 permanently protecting the prong-horned ante- 

 lope, and it had been duly engrossed and signed 

 by the governor, a legal stowaway was discov- 

 ered in its midst. To the horror of the elk 

 hunters, it was found that both the elk and 

 mountain sheep had been named as species for 

 which there should he no open season ! And 

 this with thousands of otherwise killable elk 

 around the Yellowstone Park ! No wonder 

 Jackson's Hole has put on mourning. 



The inclusion of the elk was of course un- 

 necessarv, and also decidedly unfortunate. 

 With 30,000 elk in Wyoming, there is no need 

 for a perpetual close season ; and there is no 

 need to break up the legitimate business of guid- 

 ing law-abiding elk hunters. In feeding 20,000 

 starving elk last winter, the people of Jackson's 

 Hole have done well; and this we must not for- 

 get. 



As for that mountain-sheep clause, however, 

 we rejoice with exceedingly great joy! The 

 sheep of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Col- 

 orado must have absolute and permanent pro- 

 lection, or they are doomed to quick extinction! 

 It has not come one moment too soon; and the 

 people of Wyoming should hold that law on the 

 sheep just where it is, forever. 



