The Condition of Wild Life in Alaska 



living buffalo. The history of the American bison, 

 which has a very large range of migration, sug- 

 gests that it is quite possible that these animals did 

 not habitually spend the winter in Alaska, but on 

 the approach of the cold season migrated south- 

 ward to warmer climates, or crossed into Siberia 

 on the former land connection over what are now 

 Bering Straits. If this hypothesis be correct, the 

 climate of Alaska during the Pleistocene and re- 

 cent periods, may not have radically differed from 

 its climate of to-day. 



The extension of placer mining in Alaska, when 

 conducted in a more systematic manner than at 

 present, will undoubtedly bring to light other 

 forms of large mammals, most probably types re- 

 lated to those already mentioned, together with 

 the remains of carnivorous types. 



The above article was written in 1907, and be- 

 fore its publication in the current Boone and 

 Crockett Club Book these notes should be added: 



The range of the brown bear of Alaska, which 

 has long been a disputed question, is now known 

 to extend as far north at least as the Kobuk River, 

 within 300 miles of Point Barrow, and it is prob- 

 able that further investigation will still further 

 extend this range. 



385 



