ORDER CARNIVORA: CARNIVORES 235 



The present stock is about 2,000 individuals. The increase through 

 natural propagation is not important, and the annual kill is about 

 300-400 specimens. The species is protected from March 1 to Novem- 

 ber 14. Forest guards are not allowed to kill it. (Forest Department, 

 Latvia, in litt., March, 1937.) 



Estonia. The species is found throughout the country in suitable 

 areas. There is a steady decrease, owing to the drying up of the 

 country. The animal is not threatened by man, but it is without 

 any legal protection. (Zoological Institute, University of Tartu, 

 in litt., October, 1936.) 



Finland. The species is apparently distributed in the southern 

 part of the country (Ognev, 1931, p. 758). 



Russia. From Ognev's data (1931, pp. 758-761), the Mink ap- 

 pears to be widely and more or less commonly distributed over most 

 of Russia, from Kandalaksha Bay, the lower Dvina, and the Pet- 

 chora and Usa Rivers in the north to the Ukraine, the Caucasus, 

 and Astrakhan in the south. Westward it is found about Lake Onega, 

 in Volhynia and Podolia, and on the lower Dniester. At the bazaar 

 of White Russia 473 Mink skins were sold in 1926-27, and 649 in 

 1927-28. Eastward the species is found in the Ural region, from 

 the tributaries of the Petchora in the north to Orenburg and the 

 Ilek River in the south. Beyond the Urals it extends only to the 

 Tobol and Irtish Rivers. In Transcaucasia it occurs on the Bzyb 

 River. 



The animal is strongly persecuted as a fur animal and is rare 

 in certain regions. Hunting is not allowed in the Volga region and 

 in the eastern part of European Russia. There is no danger of ex- 

 tinction, except in certain industrial regions. (W. G. Heptner, in 

 litt., December, 1936.) 



Russian Sable. Marte zibelline (Fr.). Zobel (Ger.) 



MARTES ZIBELLINA (Linnaeus) 



Mustela zibellina Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, p. 46, 1758. (Northern 



Asia; type locality restricted by Ognev (1925, p. 276) to "the northern 



part of the government of Tobolsk.") 

 FIGS.: Royal Nat. Hist., vol. 2, p. 55, 1894; Ognev, 1931, pi. 5 (M. z. 



sahalinensis) ; Zeitschr. f. Saugetierk., vol. 9, pi. 18, fig. 7, 1934 (Amur 



form) . 



This is one of the animals that has suffered particularly from 

 the "curse of beauty." It has been decimated by the demands of 

 the fur trade and has disappeared from considerable areas within 

 its former range. Its principal home is in Siberia. 



The Sable bears considerable resemblance to the Pine Marten 

 (Martes martes). It has a cone-shaped head, large ears, a bushy 



