REPORT OF BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS. 19 



was formulated which it is believed would result in properly caring for 

 the "tule" elk. It is hoped that something along the lines suggested 

 by Professor Grinnel in the following report, can be adopted : 



Berkeley, Califoknia, June 13, 1912. 



State Fish and Game Commission, 



San Francisco, California. 



Gentlemen: I submit herewith a statement in regard to the dwarf elk {Cervus 

 nannodes ) , as it occurs at the present time in the San Joaquin basin. This infor- 

 mation was obtain largely by Mr. J. S. Hunter and myself during the last ten days 

 in April, 1912. During this period we explored the district west from Bakersfield, 

 in Kern and San Luis Obispo counties. 



According to the consensus of the accounts given us by old residents of the 

 region, elk formerly ranged in considerable numbers throughout the Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin basins, south to the immediate environs of Bakersfield, thence 

 west through the inner coast ranges and intervening valleys as far as the plains of 

 the Cuyama Valley, in San Luis Obispo County, and extreme northern Santa Bar- 

 bara County. Before they had become much reduced in numbers, in the sixties, elk 

 occupied most of the tule swamp region of the bed of the San Joaquin Valley. On 

 this account this species of elk has been frequently called the "Tule" elk. The 

 animal, however, ranged up into, and through, the barren ranges of hills all along 

 the west side from west of Tulare Lake south to the vicinity of Maricopa. 



By the year 1874 the elk had disappeared throughout nearly all of this territory. 

 One report has it, that in 1874 but one single pair of elk remained between Tulare 

 and Buena Vista lakes. These were on the property of Henry Miller. This gentle- 

 man decided to save this remnant if possible, and offered large rewards for infor- 

 mation leading to the identity of any one molesting the animals. It is said that the 

 fine herd of elk now existing, has descended from this pair of animals preserved by 

 Mr. Miller. 



The cause of the rapid decrease in the original numbers of elk is said to have 

 been due to hunters, who make it a business to "jerk" elk meat, and sell it to pros- 

 pectors on the desert. 



It would appear that the dwarf elk never ranged outside of the lower Sonoran 

 life zone within the San Joaquin-Sacramento basin. There was, however, a slight 

 seasonal shifting. To this day, the does go up into the hills during the season when 

 the fawns are born. At this time, too, bands of bucks range high into the hills, but 

 not, generally, above the limits of the temperature conditions existing in the lower 

 Sonoran zone. 



The point I wish to bring out here is that this species of elk can not be expected 

 to thrive if transported into any other faunal area than that in which it was origi- 

 nally native. There is no barrier to prevent the dwarf elk spreading high up into 

 the pine lelt of the Siorra, or pvcn into the Mojave dts'vt, or west into the coast 

 district. But they did not go, finding the different climatic conditions prohibitive. 



The rate of reproduction, that is, the rate of increase, of the dwarf elk is believed 

 to amount to the doubling of the herd every four years, as long as conditions remain 

 normally favorable. It is obviously, however, impossible for such a rate of 

 increase to have been maintained since the original nucleus of the herd was first 

 given protection. It is probable that there are good grounds for believing the num- 

 erous rumors, that there has been more or less poaching, even up to within a very 

 few years. 



Our investigations in April resulted in our belief that there are at the present 

 time very close to 400 head of elk ranging from Buena Vista Lake to the vicinity 

 of Button Willow and thence west into the elk hills ; and as far as known, these are 

 all of thf representatives of the species in existence, save for a few which were 

 removed in 1904 to the Sequoia National Park, and a very few in confinement else- 

 where. The main herd remains a large part of the time on the valley lands belonging 

 to Miller & Lux, and the Kern County Land Company. 



There is no denying the fact that the presence of this great number of animals 

 running at large, inflicts serious injury to these properties. We saw elk crowd 

 throi(f/h fences and trample fields of standing grain. I am informed upon good 

 authority, that it is estimated that on the Miller & Lux property alone, $5,000 

 worth of damage is done each year by the elk, in breaking fences, and in trampling 

 alfalfa and grain outside of what forage they actually consume. 



