TWELFTH AXXUAL REPORT. 131 



There is a hup^e bear found cm the large islands arounrl Juneau 

 and Sitka which has been described as a separate species, and 

 its numbers are indicated by the fact that about seventy-five 

 animals, the majority being of this species, are killed annually 

 around Juneau. 



The brown bear group extends from this point westward 

 along the south coast of Alaska, out into the Alaska Peninsula. 

 Several species have been described, but they can all be safely 

 grouped together under the common designation of Alaska brown 

 bear. They extend far up the Copper River, but I could not 

 obtain any definite record of the occurrence of members of this 

 group north of the mountain region and in the area drained by 

 the Yukon. 



Polar bear occur quite abundantly north of Bering Straits. 

 Occasionally they are foinid on the Seward Peninsula, and occur 

 as far south as St. [Matthew's Island, in the middle of Bering Sea. 



Caribou. — Caribou of several species are found more or less 

 numerously throughout Alaska, and occur in herds around the 

 upper Yukon, with localities of especial abundance such as the 

 head of Forty ]\Iile River. An examination of the antlers foimd 

 at various points, from the upper Yukon River to the sea. would 

 indicate an almost complete transition of antler type from the 

 Woodland (Osborn) caribou, to the Barren Ground (Grant) cari- 

 bou. A further study of the caribou of this region will ultimately 

 lead to a merging of the various species. The work of Charles 

 Sheldon, who is now studying sheep in the ^It. McKinley district, 

 has broken down the specific distinction of the sheep in Alaska in 

 the same way. 



That caribou were formerly very abundant on the Seward 

 Peninsula is proved by the abundance of bleached skulls and cast 

 antlers, apparently about twenty or twenty-five years old. The 

 cause of their disappearance is as yet an unsolved problem. The 

 possession of firearms by the natives, first obtained from whalers, 

 is by some considered as the cause, and by others epidemics. 

 The natives themselves claim that about a generation ago the 

 winter cold continued throughout an entire year, and all the 

 caribou perished in consequence. All these explanations leave 

 much to be desired, as there is an abundance of caribou in the 

 wooded district at the eastern end of the Peninsula, and the 

 explanation of the fact that in the course of all these years the 

 caribou have not wandered back to their old feeding grounds re- 

 mains a mvsterv. A few scattered individuals at the verv most 



