REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION 



APPENDIX No. V 



DR. GRENFELL'S REINDEER EXPERIMENT IN LABRADOR. 



Statement prepared by Mr. Jose A. Machado, Secretary, Canadian Branch of the 

 International Grenfell Association. 



In January, 1908, Dr. Grenfell landed 250 domesticated reindeer from 

 Lapland, which were located in a comparatively small area, in northern New- 

 foundland, near St. Anthony, where the deer fed entirely upon the moss which 

 grows in great abundance in all that part of the country. 



In four years .the herd increased from 250 to over 1,200. 



Grenfell Herd Reindeer. 



Photo by R. IF. Brock. 



By this time the land originally provided was not adequate for the proper 

 care of the deer, and the financial resources of the Mission were not adequate 

 to deal with the matter on a proper scale. The location which had been utilized 

 up to this time was both limited in size and located in a comparatively closely 

 populated section. The Newfoundland Government was approached with a 

 view to taking over this work, but then the war broke out, and nothing was 

 done. Furthermore, the local magistrates gave no assistance against poaching. 



The herd suffered, therefore, in two ways, first, from being crowded, and 

 from the development of an attack of some bronchial disease which carried ofif 

 a number of the deer; and second, from the poaching which was carried on both 

 by settlers and by fishermen, as the deer were close to the sea. A large number 

 of deer were driven off into the hinterland. 



In 1918, the remainder of the herd were given to the Canadian Govern- 

 ment, and transported to the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, near St. 

 Augustine. Here they at once began to increase in numbers. 



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