1932 



ANNUAL REPORT, 1931 



find that there are 3,756,464 acres within the confines of the present existing 

 fifty-six Crown Game Preser\es throughout Ontario, in which the protection 

 to which previous reference has been made is now provided. Of this amount, 

 an area of 259,650 acres was included in the following seven Game Preserves 

 established during 1931. viz.: — Abitibi (District of Cochrane), Mud Branch 

 (Count)- of Oxford). Quinte (County of Hastings). Rideau (Counties of Grenville, 

 Carleton and Lanark), The Bog (County of Leeds), Westmount (County of 

 Middlesex), and Yarmouth (County of Elgin); while extension of the existing 

 Rockcliffe, Masonville and Innisfree Game Preserves was responsible for the 

 addition during the year of a further 1,798 acres. 



Reports of our field officers are to the effect that these Sanctuaries are of 

 increasing value to the various sections in which they are located as affording 

 refuge for wild life and thereby an opportunity to develop and increase in number; 

 and the continued expansion of the work would indicate a growing realization 

 of the benefits which are to be derived therefrom. 



WOLF BOUNTIES 



During 1931, the Department received applications for the payment of 

 bounty on 2,751 wolves, an increase of some eight per cent, over the total of 

 the previous year. The increase in bounty to S25.00 per pelt on wolves over the 

 age of three months, which had been provided where the animals had been 

 taken under certain conditions during 1930, was made applicable to all such 

 wolf pelts taken in the Province from and after June 1st, 1931, with the result 

 that the total amount paid for bounty during the year was considerably in 

 excess of the amount thus paid in the previous year. Under present existing 

 conditions wolf trapping is possibly the most remunerative branch of the industry 

 so far as the trapper himself is concerned. Reference must again be made to 

 the fact that the large majority of wolf pelts upon which applications for bounty 

 are received by the Department are from animals taken in the extreme north- 

 western section of the Province. 



Following is a comparative statement of pelts received and bounties paid 

 during the past five years: 



ENFORCEMEXT OF THE ACT 



For purposes of administration and enforcement, there are seven divisions 

 of the Province, each under the direct supervision of a District Superintendent, 

 headquarters of which officials are located, respectively, at London, Orillia, 

 Ottawa, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Fort William and Sioux Lookout. During 

 the year, the enforcement of the provisions and regulations of The Ontario 

 Game and Fisheries Act was, generally speaking, performed in an efficient 

 and satisfactory manner by the o\erseers whose particular duties are along 

 these lines. The number of officers charged with the general work of enforcement 



