16 FUE-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 



A recapitulation of the foregoing official record of the rate and progress of the decline 

 of the fur-seal herd of Alaska shows, concisely, that there were in^ 



Males, females, 

 and young. 



187'^-1874 4, 500, 000 



1890 1,059,000 



1891 ; 1,000,000 



1896 440, 000 



1897 376, 000 



1898 331, 000 



1899 264, 000 



1900 233, 000 



1901 204, 000 



1902 180, 000 



1903 150, 000 



Also, a census of the fur-seal cows alone has been officially recorded since 1896, as 

 follows: 



1896 (Jordan's report) 157, 405 



1897 (Jordan's report) 134, 582 



1900 (United States Fish Commissioner's report) 100, 000 



1901 (special agent. Treasury Department, report) 91, 236 



1902 (special agent. Treasury Department, report) ' 94, 882 



Certainly true it is that these bulls are "falling off." They are dying of old age on 

 these rookeries, and no new blood has been permitted to reach these breeding grounds 

 since 1896 so as to fill the vacancies thus created; and it is equally certain and true 

 that the same annual loss of cows has taken place in 1903 which has marked the pre- 

 ceding seasons, since there has been no cessation of the work of slaughter on land 

 and in the sea in all of those years, and there is none to-day. 



The next point in order is the following analysis of the status of the male life on the 

 rookeries or breeding grounds, which clearly shows the total elimination of this life by 

 1907 under existing rules and management. 



In 1872-1874 there were some 90,000 breeding bulls and 1,250,000 cows (primipares, 

 multipares, and nubiles), showing a birth rate of 1,125,000 pups. 



In 1890 this herd was reduced to some 14,000 breeding bulls and about 420,000 cows 

 (primipares, multipares, and nubiles), showing a birth rate of 380,000 pups. 



In 1896 this herd was still further reduced to some 5,000 bulls and about 144,000 

 cows (primipares, multipares, and nubiles), sho%ving a birth rate of 130,000 pups. 



In 1903 this herd is reduced to some 2,200 bulls and about 75,000 cows (primipares, 

 multipares, and nubiles), showing a birth rate of 68,000 pups. 



These 2,200 breeding bulls of 1903 are tlie survivors of those young males which 

 were spared in 1890 and by the modus vivendi of 1891-1893, and thus allowed to 

 grow up to the age of 6 years and then take their places in 1894, 1895, and 1896 on the 

 rookeries as 6 and 7 year old "seecatchie." 



In 1894 and in 1895 a few hundred 4-year-olds may have escaped the club on the 

 killing grounds and thus came in as 6-year-olds in 1896 and 1897. 



But in 1896 no 3-year-old seal was passed over the killing grounds which was not 

 killed in 1897 as a 4-year-old. 



And in 1897 and 1898 no 3-year-old seal escaped the killer's club, except to die on 

 the killing grounds as a 4-year-old in 1898 and 1899. 



And in 1899 no 2-year-old seal was permitted to escape on these grounds unless to 

 die as a 3-year-old in 1900. 



And in 1900 no well-grown yearling seal was spared on these slaughter fields, ex- 

 cept to perish as a 2-year-old in 1901. 



And in 1901 every yearling that came ashore was taken, and if a few escaped they 

 met the club in 1902 sure, as 2-year-olds. 



And in 1902 every young male seal that landed was taken, so that out of 22,199, 

 16,875 were "long" and average yearlings, or "5-pound" or "eyeplaster" skins. 



In this clear light of the close killing of the young male life as given above, it will be 

 observed that no young or fresh male blood has been permitted to mature and reach 

 the breeding grounds since 1896. 



The average life of a breeding bull is from 15 to 18 years; he does not keep his place 

 longer for good and obvious reasons. The youngest bulls to-day upon that breeding 



1 This increase of some 5 per cent in cows over the figures of 1901 is a self-evident blunder, because its 

 author m his report of 1002 says: "A careful count of harems made this year shows a falling off of 25 per cent 

 of breedmg bulls." 



