ORDER ARTIODACTYLA: EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 453 



retreats they can find. They are now rarely to be met with in the lower 

 parts of the upper foothills. 



W. G. Heptner (in Hit., December, 1936) informs us that during 

 the last 50 years the numbers in Siberia have decreased considerably ; 

 in certain regions the animal has become rare, and its range has, 

 in general, been restricted. However, there are still regions in the 

 Altai where the animal is very numerous. Hunting is completely 

 forbidden. 



Salesski (1934, pp. 373-375, distr. map) contributes the following 

 information: The range is quite restricted, including the Altai, 

 [Kusnetsk?] Alatau, and Sayan. In the lowland the animal appears 

 only accidentally, as when it descends from the Kusnetsk Alatau 

 as far as the middle course of the Chulym. In the middle of the 

 last century the Maral was everywhere common in the Altai, from 

 the Tigirek and Korgon Alps to the Mongolian boundary on the 

 east. During the winter wanderings it extended to the southwestern 

 Baraba (between Chany and Slavgorod). Now it occurs only in 

 the central and eastern Altai; in the Chuya and Kuraja Alps, on 

 the divide between Lake Teletsk, Bashkaus, and Katum, toward 

 the north not farther than Chemal, Pysko, and Uimenj, likewise 

 between the Bashkaus and Chulyshman and on the upper Abakan. 

 During the World War, when there were fewer hunters, the Maral 

 increased and appeared for a time in the Sseminsk Mountains be- 

 tween the Katum and Pestshanoye Rivers. 



So far the Maral is still common in the northern part of the 

 Shorien mountain country, on the upper courses of the Tom and the 

 Taransk. Southward on the Mrassu it occurs in smaller numbers. 

 It is not rare at the northern point of the Kusnetsk Alatau. It is 

 much rarer on the Urjup, a tributary of the Chulym. 



In the West Sayan it is pretty common on the Rivers Dzebash 

 and Ana. It is also not rare on the upper course of the Kabansuk. 



In the Yenisei taiga it remains chiefly on the passes through the 

 Sayan Mountains. It also occurs on the whole course of the Uss and 

 on the midlle course of the Oya. Farther east and northeast it is 

 common on the Rivers Kizir, Kazir, and Amil. From the Amil 

 region the bulk of the Marals migrate to Tannu-Tuva, though 

 some remain in the districts with less snow. 



Demidoff (1900, pp. 49-55) describes a "maralnik," or enclosure 

 for Maral, in the country south of Bisk, in the upper Ob Basin. Here 

 about 150 animals were confined. He says: 



Some of the animals had been bred in the enclosure, others had been 

 caught in the woods, when young, by native Kalmuks with dogs, in winter, 

 when deep snows render this task easier. . . . There are many similar 

 enclosures in the Altai district, especially in the eastern parts, and statistics 

 show that about 6,000 deer are thus enclosed in parks, constituting one of 

 the most important trades of the country with China .... An average head 



