CHAPTER IV 
THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 
Ir has already been pointed out that Canada and Alaska 
constitute the last strongholds of the chief “‘big game” 
animals ot the North American continent. Although their 
numbers have decreased, the larger mammals of our native 
fauna may still be found in fair numbers in our forests and 
on our mountains. 
In this chapter I propose to deal with the larger members 
of our wild life, and to describe as briefly as possible their 
distribution, habits, and abundance. A knowledge of these 
facts is essential to an understanding of the need for their 
conservation, and of the steps by which this may be ac- 
complished. This is especially important in the case of 
the musk-ox and the antelope, which are the two most in- 
teresting and scientifically unique of our large native mam- 
mals, and which will be exterminated within a few years 
unless absolute protection is given to them and rigorously 
enforced. Further, the great possibility of utilizing such 
larger members of our wild life as the barren-ground caribou 
and deer as a source of meat has been urged, and the facts 
that will be set forth in this chapter will serve to empha- 
size and lead to a greater appreciation of this potential food 
supply. 
THE WAPITI, OR ELK 
The wapiti or elk (Cervus canadensis) is the handsomest 
of all our native deer, and next to the moose it is the largest. 
It is the North American representative of the European 
red deer, and formerly was the most widely distributed 
26 
