50 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
which permits the killing of one cow moose each year, is 
not a wise policy from the standpoint of the protection of 
this animal, and it is hoped that the increase that has been 
secured in the Maritime Provinces as a result of the pro- 
tection of the cow moose will serve to indicate the desira- 
bility of prohibiting the slaughter of females. If this is not 
done, a continued decrease in numbers will undoubtedly 
follow. In certain districts in Saskatchewan the moose 
have suffered severely from the same species of ticks found 
attacking moose in Manitoba. An account of the occur- 
rence of this pest is given in the annual report of the chief 
game guardian of Saskatchewan for 1916 (pp. 22-25). 
In Alberta moose appear to be decreasing in numbers, 
the decrease being probably due to the extension north- 
ward of the agricultural areas and to excessive killing. The 
following are the returns of moose killed under license since 
1907 :* 
ROOT cieiete an cia apse Beats 14) MOTS hae Nada 865 
DOOR Sire HHO ea ate te Rete is OES, (RON RS Ao leas tele ee 1,335 
1 ie a vata-c- arene ayes acer aa us fo eam io EIS pees me SAG Nc! 1,116 
OUD RS Soe eM seh erat rai BSE TONG. (oe | tataencte oe eee 849 
NOM eee teins sea erties SU (MONG oe htt vectra tele ener 1,026 
SS Gee NERS Rae Oe S25 \VAOUB cre aaats ot eer eee 900 
These figures by no means represent the total number of 
animals killed, as practically no figures are available from 
districts north of the fifty-fifth parallel. 
The number of moose in the Northwest Territories is 
decreasing annually. Writing in 1905 (loc. cit.) MacFarlane 
states: 
This valuable food animal used to be very common in the Peace River, 
and, indeed, throughout the forest region of the northern portion of the 
“Great Mackenzie Basin”; but for the last twenty years it has been 
* The apparent increase in numbers indicated by these figures is probably 
accounted for by the fact that more accurate returns of the number killed 
have been secured each year. 
