THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 111 



that most of the bears have been killed on the islands, 

 particularly on Princess Royal and Gribbell Islands. As 

 Mr. Kermode has pointed out to me, this does not mean 

 that they are any more common on the islands than on 

 the adjacent coast of the mainland; but it shows that they 

 are more easily seen and hunted on mountain slides on 

 these islands. There are no white goats; whereas, on the 

 mainland, when observed from a distance, these bears are 

 likely to be mistaken for goats, owing to their size and 

 cream-white colour, both these animals being found on the 

 open grassy slide country, which is a favourite feeding- 

 ground for bear in the spring. 



Protection of Bears 



Attention already has been called to the great need of 

 giving protection to the polar bear, which is rapidly de- 

 creasing in numbers in the more accessible regions of the 

 Canadian Arctic coast, although their numbers are, no doubt, 

 being maintained to a greater degree on the more remote 

 islands of the Arctic. 



Only in the provinces of Quebec and British Columbia 

 are there close seasons or bag limits on black bears. In 

 Quebec a close season on the black bear is maintained from 

 July 1 to August 20, which covers the mating season. 

 In British Columbia a close season on the black bear was 

 instituted in 1918; this season is from July 1 to September 

 30. In view of the great decrease of grizzly bears in the 

 United States, owing to the absence of any restrictions on 

 the killing of this animal, it would seem very desirable to 

 give it more protection in Canada, as continuous and assidu- 

 ous hunting will undoubtedly seriously jeopardize its future, 

 and a bag limit should be fix^ed, if only as a precautionary 

 measure. I received a report of big-game hunting in 1916 

 in the Cassiar region of British Columbia, in which one 



