238 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



recently the Russian population of the species seems to have become 

 largely restricted to the Urals, where it is less numerous on the 

 western slopes than on the eastern. However, in 1925 it was still 

 common on the Ilych River, a tributary of the Fetch ora. (Ognev, 

 1931, pp. 569-570.) 



The Ural form is considered distinct from M. z. zibellina but is 

 not named. It occurs sporadically and rarely along the western 

 foothills (headwaters of the Shugora, Laga, Ilych, and Petchora) ; 

 it is also rare on the eastern slopes, at the sources of the Losva, 

 Aspia, Purma, Ushma, Toshemok, and Wishaj Rivers. The fur is 

 considered the finest in western Siberia. (Ognev, 1925, p. 277.) 



Siberia, Ob Basin (M. z. zibellina). In the Government of To- 

 bolsk the Sable is not rare in the taiga forests of the Pelym River; 

 it is rare along the Tavda River and in the Tarsk and Surgut dis- 

 tricts. At the end of the last century more than 300 Sables were 

 obtained annually along the Jugan River. The species is absent 

 between Beresof and Obdorsk. Along the Rivers Omi, Tara, and 

 Irtish, and in the southern part of the Government of Tobolsk it 

 was very scarce in 1886. In the Narym district it was numerous on 

 the upper Wasugan River in 1875. It occurs on the Ket and Chulym 

 Rivers, and was particularly numerous on the Tchirk-Ul River about 

 1923. It avoids the steppes in the central part of the Government of 

 Tomsk. (Ognev, 1925, p. 277, and 1931, pp. 571-572.) 



Prejevalsky (1879, p. 233) reported the Upper Katuna, the Bukh- 

 tarma, and their tributaries, in the Russian Altai, as particularly 

 good districts for Sables. The hunters used specially trained dogs, 

 and endeavored to surround the animals with nets, which were as 

 much as 1,000 feet long and 4 feet high. The average price of a 

 sable skin was then 15 rubles. 



Siberia, Yenisei Basin (M. z. yeniseensis, M. z. sajanensis, M. z. 

 princeps) . The Sable is found in suitable areas from the Mongolian 

 boundary northward to latitude 69 N. The form living along the 

 Tunguska River and near Turukhansk probably represents an un- 

 described subspecies ; the same form is found in small numbers in the 

 adjacent Khatanga Basin. The species is less common in the Gov- 

 ernment of Irkutsk than in the Government of Yenisei. It is absent 

 from the steppes in the vicinity of Minusinsk, Achinsk, and Kras- 

 noyarsk. It is common in the Sayan region on the Kasyr-Suk and 

 Uda Rivers, and occurs on practically all sides of Lake Baikal. 

 According to Turov (1923) , 700 skins were exported annually across 

 Bargusin from the Verkhne Angarsk and Podlemorsk districts near 

 Lake Baikal. (Ognev, 1931, pp. 572-573.) 



Siberia, Lena Basin. In the Olekma-Vitim mountainous country 

 the Sable is very rare. Far to the north, in the enormous region 

 between the Anabar, the Olenek, the Lower Tunguska, and the Vilui, 



