68 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



caribou (Rangifer arcticus), with its allied races to which I 

 have already referred, which is the smallest species; (2) the 

 woodland caribou (R. caribou) (Plate II), which is larger in 

 size, and comes next in extent of distribution and abundance; 

 (3) the large mountain caribou (R. montanus and R. oshorni), 

 which is dark in colour and exceeds all others in size (Plate 

 IV) ; and the light-coloured or white Newfoundland caribou 

 {R. terrcenovce). 



Throughout its range the woodland caribou is but thinly 

 scattered, and it is nowhere numerous at the present time. 

 It may be found in the thickly wooded coniferous forest 

 regions from Nova Scotia in the east to British Columbia 

 in the west. In Nova Scotia it has become very scarce, 

 but may still be found in small numbers in the western part 

 of the province, particularly in Victoria and Inverness Coun- 

 ties, Cape Breton Island. A few remain in New Brunswick, 

 but unfortunately they appear to be decreasing in numbers 

 annually.* Perhaps the greatest number now occur in the 

 province of Quebec, especially in the remote forest regions 

 which extend from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Hudson 

 Bay, although their numbers are decreasing every year. In 

 1911 I found that they were still fairly common in the Lake 

 St. John region, but they are in need of greater protection 

 in that province. 



Throughout the coniferous forests in the northern por- 

 tions of the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, 

 and Alberta, and the adjacent similarly forested regions of 



* Henry Braithwaite, the veteran guide and trapper, of Fredericton, is 

 quoted as saying, in The Weekly Mail, Fredericton, N. B., February 9, 1921: 

 " I may be wrong, but it is my honest opinion that the New Brunswick caribou 

 have been exterminated. . . . Some of our guides and sportsmen appear to 

 be under the impression that caribou will some day retiuna to the province. 

 It is my belief that they will not come back. They left New Brunswick just 

 as they left Maine some thirty years ago, and Maine is without caribou to- 

 day. . . . They have gone out in precisely the same way as the wild pigeons. 

 I can remember in my boyhood days seeing flocks of wild pigeons which 

 almost darkened the sky. They vanished almost in a night, and the predic- 

 tion was freely made that they would return, but they have not done so." 



