THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 103 



1902-11, the number of white bear skins offered for sale at 

 their auctions in London, England, ranged from a maxi- 

 mum of 170 in 1902, to a minimum of 82 in 1911, and the 

 average number offered was only 97. These figures tell 

 their own story, and indicate most strongly the urgent 

 necessity of increased protection which this animal must un- 

 questionably receive and, we hope, will receive in the future. 

 It constitutes an economic resource of no mean value, apart 

 from the obvious duty of preventing so unique a species 

 of mammal from reaching the point of extinction in the 

 territories under our control and supervision. 



Grizzly Bear (Ursus horribilis) 



Distribution. — The fame of the North American grizzly 

 is world-wide. In the days when the buffalo was abundant, 

 and up to the early part of the last century, it ranged the 

 western plains, foot-hills, and mountains with its supremacy 

 unchallenged. The buffalo bull fell beneath its powerful 

 blows, but now in its mountain retreats it more usually 

 contents itself with such infinitely smaller prey as mice and 

 ants. 



From the journals of Alexander Henry we learn that in 

 1800 it occurred in southwestern Manitoba, and the capture 

 of grizzlies at Portage la Prairie will appear somewhat as- 

 tonishing to the residents of to-day in that region. This 

 was its most easterly range; and westward and southward 

 it ranged the plains and foot-hills of the Rockies. The dis- 

 appearance of the buffalo and the systematic hunting of 

 the grizzly, which in the early days was both dangerous and 

 destructive to the cattle and horses on the range, led to its 

 extermination over practically the whole of the non-moun- 

 tainous portion of its range. Even in the mountains it 

 is nowhere common at the present time. The greatest 

 number are to be found in the Rocky Mountains and their 



