REINDEER AND MOOSE 
HE United States Congress, in 1892, at the mstance of Dr. 
Sheldon Jackson, appropriated $240,500 to establish herds of 
reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Alaska. Twelve hundred and eighty 
reindeer were imported before 1902, when the Russian government with- 
drew its permission to make shipments from its territory. More lately 
Dr. Grenfell has established herds in Labrador. Both herds are entirely 
successful in providing labour, transportation, skins and food for the 
more primitive people of Canada and Alaska. The native reindeer of 
Canada, comprising the woodland caribou (Rangifer caribou) and the 
barren-ground caribou (Rangifer arcticus) might produce a domestic 
animal of a type superior to its European cousin. In any event, the 
European reindeer might possibly be improved by crossing with the 
woodland caribou, which is stronger and larger. 
The following interesting account of the introduction of reindeer 
to Canada was contributed by R. H. Campbell, Duector of the Forestry 
Branch, Department of the Interior. 
THe REINDEER IN CANADA 
“The earliest recorded attempt to domesticate reindeer on this con- 
tinent is that of the United States government which, about 1892, 
imported a herd of Siberian deer to Alaska for that purpose. Several 
small herds have since been imported and, as the result of careful and 
intelligent handling, there are now some 15,000 domesticated reindeer 
in Alaska. The deer are used for pratically all the purposes for which 
domestic cattle may be used and are, in addition, very useful for trans- 
portation purposes. 
“The problem of transportation is, aside from the 
Transportation severity of the weather, the most serious with which 
in the Arctic : ; : 
dwellers in the arctic regions have to deal. The cost 
of grain and hay, neither of which is grown in any considerable quan- 
tity, precludes the use of horses or cattle for transportation purposes 
and, prior to the introduction of reindeer, dogs were used almost 
entirely. While Eskimo, or husky, dogs make excellent beasts of burden, 
their usefulness is seriously impaired by the necessity of hauling with 
them sufficient fish or other food for their own subsistence. As on 
long trips they can haul little, if any, load beyond their own food 
supply, this seriously limits the sphere of a dog’s usefulness. Rein- 
deer, on the other hand, while quite as hardy as the best train dogs and 
