ALTAI DEER (Cervus canadensis asiaticus) 



ALTAI deer resemble the wapiti closely, but are not quite so big, the 

 horns being less like those of a red deer. I have not yet been able 

 to get a satisfactory red-deer-Altai cross. From the point of view of 

 getting an enlarged red deer, the photograph of a four-year-old stag 

 of -such a cross is shown on page 15. Such a hybrid ought to be a 

 good one to cross with the wapiti in order to eradicate the tendency to 

 consumption and bad feet developed by pure-bred wapiti in the 

 English climate. 



The hinds of the red deer and Altai cross are exceptionally hardy 

 and strong, and should do well in a Scotch deer-forest, if the type of 

 head in the stags resulting from the introduction be not objected to. 

 Most likely, however, the next cross with the red deer would obliterate 

 the peculiarity. 



The objection to the head of the Altai stag, at any rate in the case 

 of the one in my own possession (see page 39), is that there is 

 not sufficient spread or sweep to the horns, which come rather close 

 together, and have only a slight curve. So far as I have experimented, 

 this does not look very encouraging in the matter of improving the 

 red deer. Altai deer are more difficult to get than wapiti, and are 

 not so big or handsome. 



I have just had to shoot the Altai-red-deer stag illustrated on 

 page 15, on account of his "head" being so narrow. 



Still, as stated in the section on the cross-bred wapiti-red-deer, my 



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