ARCTIC GAME NOTES 1 



DISTRIBUTION OF LARGE GAME ANIMALS IN THE FAR NORTH — 

 EXTINCTION OF THE MUSK OX — THE CHANCES FOR SURVI- 

 VAL OF MOOSE AND CARIBOU, MOUNTAIN SHEEP, 

 POLAR BEAR AND GRIZZLY 



By Rudolph M. Anderson 



Illustrations from photographs by the Author 



THE hunting done by Arctic expeditions, as pointed out by Admiral 

 Peary, is almost entirely utilitarian, supplementing the food supply. 

 The plan of exploration of the Stefansson-Anderson expedition 

 entailed living upon the country, and too often the immediate needs of the 

 party impelled the use of the rifle where stalking with field glasses and cam- 

 era would have been more desirable scientifically. The faunal naturalist 

 properly considers it a crime to kill an animal while there remains something 

 to be learned of its habits. Deprecating the necessity, we could justify 

 such deeds only by the reasoning that justifies acts of necessity in war. 

 Wringing sustenance from the Arctic wilderness is war: aims and the man 

 continually pitted against the strength, speed or cunning of the wild beast 

 backed by the rigors of his chosen habitat, a conflict without truce or 

 parley and with no quarter to the vanquished. 



There were compensations however. Living to a large extent upon the 

 country made the economic side of the fauna an object of daily research, by 

 the natives of our parties as well as by ourselves. As with all nomad hunt- 

 ers the one absorbing topic of general interest and discussion was the game of 

 the country, its condition and pelage, its abundance, distribution, migra- 

 tions and habits — and to people living the carnivorous primitive life the 

 game forms a faunal list nearly all-inclusive. It may be remarked in passing 

 that a much greater part than is generally supposed of the savage's lore of 

 the animal world, rehearsed around the campfire and to a large extent prac- 

 ticed in the field, is founded upon old legends and superstitions accepted 

 unquestioningly from former generations, rather than upon personal obser- 

 vation. 



The moose is a game animal that is increasing in numbers all through 

 the Mackenzie country, according to the opinion of the old residents and 

 to data collected by the expedition, and has in recent years noticeablj' 

 extended its range in the Mackenzie delta and to the north and east of Great 

 Bear Lake to the very edge of the timber line and beyond. The moose owing 

 to its habits cannot be slaughtered wholesale as can the caribou and musk ox, 

 and the northern Indians have decreased in numbers at a much more rapid 

 rate than their power to kill has improved with modern weapons. 



For the barren ground caribou the story is one of decrease, the same 

 everywhere. In nearly every region where a few are now found, thousands 

 roamed only a few years ago, and many a former feeding-ground now 



1 Article and photographs copyrighted by Rudolph M. Anderson. 1913. 



