50 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



which permits the killing of one cow moose each year, is 

 not a wise policy from the standpoint of the protection of 

 this animal, and it is hoped that the increase that has been 

 secured in the Maritime Provinces as a result of the pro- 

 tection of the cow moose will serve to indicate the desira- 

 bility of prohibiting the slaughter of females. If this is not 

 done, a continued decrease in numbers will undoubtedly 

 follow. In certain districts in Saskatchewan the moose 

 have suffered severely from the same species of ticks found 

 attacking moose in Manitoba. An account of the occur- 

 rence of this pest is given in the annual report of the chief 

 game guardian of Saskatchewan for 1916 (pp. 22-25). 



In Alberta moose appear to be decreasing in numbers, 

 the decrease being probably due to the extension north- 

 ward of the agricultural areas and to excessive killing. The 

 following are the returns of moose killed under license since 

 1907:* 



1907 14 1913 865 



1908 37 1914 1,335 



1909 86 1915 1,116 



1910 184 1916 849 



1911 305 1917 1,026 



1912 425 1918 900 



These figures by no means represent the total number of 

 animals killed, as practically no figures are available from 

 districts north of the fifty-fifth parallel. 



The number of moose in the Northwest Territories is 

 decreasing annually. Writing in 1905 (loc. cit.) MacFarlane 

 states : 



This valuable food animal used to be very common in the Peace River, 

 and, indeed, throughout the forest region of the northern portion of the 

 "Great Mackenzie Basin"; but for the last twenty years it has been 



* The apparent increase in numbers indicated by these figures is probably 

 accounted for by the fact that more accurate returns of the number killed 

 have been secured each year. 



