58 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
abundance the barren-ground caribou now ranges the vast, 
uninhabited northlands of Canada, which we have wrongly 
called the Barren Grounds. 
Like the buffalo they furnish the native inhabitants of 
the territories that they occupy with meat and clothing, 
and, finally, like the buffalo soon after the middle of the 
last century, their numbers are decreasing with the advent 
of the white man and his rifle, and their range is becoming 
restricted by excessive slaughter. Again, the fallacy of be- 
lieving that excessive numbers of an animal is a reason 
against its extermination is being demonstrated. But in 
the case of the barren-ground caribou we can yet save it 
from extermination by a wise course of conservation, and 
increase its value as one of the most important natural re- 
sources of the north. 
The caribou and the fur-bearing animals are the only 
superterranean natural resources of the north that can be 
utilized at the present time. As will be shown later, the 
natives of that enormous area, both Indians and Eskimos, 
depend upon the caribou for food and clothing. Any ex- 
ploration of the country is dependent upon this source of 
meat. Without the caribou, travel in that region would be 
almost impossible, and the natives would either starve or 
become a public charge on the government. 
In the case of an animal extending over such an enormous 
area it is natural that distinct races should have developed, 
and, although we are not concerned here with the different 
forms, and shall include them all under the one name, it 
may be pointed out in passing that at least four distinct 
forms have been recognized and given specific rank. These 
are the true barren-ground caribou (Rangifer arcticus), 
which is the caribou of our Canadian Barren Grounds; 
Grant’s caribou (Rangifer granti), found in the Alaskan 
peninsula; and the more northerly forms, Peary’s caribou 
(Rangifer pearyt), inhabiting Ellesmere Island, and the 
