Wildlife in the United States 



assure the perpetuation of a species once threatened 

 with extermination. Deer, moose, and black bears 

 now tend to increase where accorded protection, 

 especially in some of the national parks. A few cari- 

 bou still persist in continental United States in an area 

 closed to hunting in northern Minnesota. 



Mountain Sheep, or Bighorns: Formerly widel}- dis- 

 persed in the more rugged sections of the West, 

 mountain sheep, or bighorns, still occur in places in the 

 higher mountains in the national forests and national 

 parks, and in the desert ranges of the Southwest, 

 usualh^ in small bands. As a rule these show Uttle or 

 no increase, although under the laws of most States no 

 killing is permitted. In many sections local extinction 

 was due to unrestricted huntmg, especially for meat to 

 supply mining camps. There seems to be good reason 

 to believe that scabies and perhaps other diseases 

 introduced by domestic sheep have killed manj' 

 mountain sheep; and predatory animals have taken 

 their toll. In some parts of the public domain little 

 utilized by man the causes that led to the elimination 

 of mountain sheep appear no longer to be operative. 

 Mines have been worked out and abandoned. Domes- 

 tic sheep are now dipped and kept more generally free 

 from scabies, and under proper control may be ex- 

 cluded from areas especiallj' adapted to their wild 

 relatives. In some of the rugged, desert mountains, 

 especially of California, Nevada, Arizona, and New 

 Mexico, there is sufficient forage, but ranges cannot be 

 used bj' domestic stock of any kind except possibly at 

 certain seasons, owing to lack of water, which, however, 

 could be made available at moderate cost by impound- 

 ing the run-off at favorable sites. Many such areas, 

 now scarcely utilized for any purpose, could undoubtedlj' 

 be stocked and developed as excellent mountain sheep 

 ranges. Owing to the habit of twinning, mountain 

 sheep have a high potential rate of increase, a rate 

 actually attainable under favorable conditions, as 

 shown for a time on the National Bison Range, in 

 Montana. A system of well-administered Federal 

 mountain sheep refuges would encourage State conser- 

 vation efforts and should in a few years afford a surplus 

 for stocldng many ranges on which limited himting of 

 one of the finest game animals in the world could be 

 permitted. 



Antelope: The antelope, regarded by manj- as the 

 most beautiful and characteristically American of our 

 game mammals, have decreased rapidly in most places 

 during recent years. Though they still occur in parts 

 of most of the Western States, many of the smaller 

 groups, unfortunatelj', are in sections where unfavor- 

 able local conditions make their extinction practically 

 certain. Antelope have held on with remarkable 

 tenacity, but they are not likelj' to survive except on 



areas where they are accorded special protection. 

 They are reasonably safe in the national forests and 

 national parks, but much of their natural range is on 

 the public domain or on lands to which adequate pro- 

 tection or management has not extended. In some 

 sections, however, as in parts of Arizona, California, 

 Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming, protective measures 

 have favored substantial increases. On the Coconino 

 National Forest and adjoining territory in Arizona, 

 where extinction seemed imminent a few years ago, 

 antelope have now increased to thousands. In the 

 competition between antelope and domestic stock, the 

 low-growing food plants are cropped with killing effect, 

 and the normal forage supply is so diminished that the 

 antelope are forced to browse on junipers and other 

 unpalatable trees as high as thej- can reach, leaving 

 them completely defoliated to a sharp line that is 

 always indicative of seriously destructive overutiliza- 

 tion on stock or game ranges. Such forage curtail- 

 ment, increasing general surface erosion, results in 

 rapid, permanent deterioration of the range and starva- 

 tion on a large scale. Here the mounting numbers of 

 the antelope, on areas closed to hunting, hke those of 

 other game in many parts of the West, have been 

 coincident with the control of predator}^ animals, 

 mainly coyotes, instituted primarilj' in the interest of 

 domestic stock production. 



The general public, and even many who regard 

 themselves as conservationists, often uninformed and 

 accustomed to think of the antelope as a vanishing 

 species, may oppose that feature of game manage- 

 ment that involves the IdiUng of surplus animals. 

 This case is an example, of which manj- could be cited, 

 of the necessity for clearer general understanding of 

 the requirements of game and the urgent need for its 

 consistent management in well-considered plans for 

 the multiple use of land. 



W}-oming contains far more surviving antelope than 

 any other State, and, as in some other places, mounting 

 numbers on the public domain constitute local problems 

 pressing for solution. Federal refuges established 

 primarilj- for antelope in suitable sections of the public 

 domain in several Western States would also extend 

 needed protection to mule deer and sage hens. On 

 other parts of the public domain the grazing of domestic 

 stock should be controlled in accordance with the 

 reasonable needs of game as well as with a view to 

 watershed protection and the prevention of soil erosion. 



Deer: Owing to large numbers and wide distribution 

 the deer are by far the most important of the big game 

 of the United States. They constitute a national 

 resource capable of great development. Although now 

 extinct over large areas formerly occupied, four species 

 of deer still divide territor}' or overlap in geographic 



