BIG GAME OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 107 



lake. Ten years ago they were much more numerous and were found 

 well down the Athabaska below the present site of Jasper park, but 

 they have been very much reduced, and at present it is doubtful if any 

 remain throughout the year on the Alberta side, as it seems generally 

 agreed among guides of that region that the whole band winters in 

 British Columbia. 



Among the carnivorous animals of the Rockies the 

 Gnazly grizzly bear is easily the most important thot^h net 



the most numerous. This animal occurs throughout 

 the East Slope region, but is everywhere very scarce. Its principal 

 home is in British Columbia, in the Selkirk mountains and between 

 the Selkirks and the Rockies. On the Alberta side it is probably most 

 abundant in the neighbourhood of mount Robson, but I have seen 

 grizzlies or evidence of their presence south of the Crowsnest, in the 

 Highwood and Kananaskis valleys, at Pipestone pass, the headwaters 

 of the North Saskatchewan, the South Brazeau and Pembina valleys 

 and in several places along the upper Athabaska. 



The most advanced legislation with regard to the grizzly is the 

 closed season and the special bear license required by the law of 

 British Columbia. This effort to protect the grizzly is a lecognition 

 of the fact that the grizzly bear is not always a pest that should be 

 exterminated, but, except in a stock country, is a perfectly harmless 

 animal under ordinary circumstances and one that may be made a 

 source of very considerable revenue. 



The black bear is very much more comrr.on in the 

 Blaek Bear Alberta Rockies than the grizzly. It is found practi- 



■ - cally everywhere throughout the mountains and, 

 although nowhere particularly abundant, yet seems to be able to hold 

 its own under present conditions. The efforts for the protection of 

 the black bear should be directed toward preventing any ill-advised 

 bounty legislation and perhaps toward the establishment of a closed 

 season when the fur is not prime. 



Of all the big game of the mountains, the cougar or 

 Cougar mountain lion has probably the least savoury reputa- 



tion. Fortunately, it is a comparatively rare animal 

 on the East slope, though common enough in parts of British Columbia. 

 Cougar are rarely seen on the east side of the mountains, but a few 

 have been killed in the Rocky Mountains park and adjacent to it on 

 the south side. It is hard to consider this animal anything but a 

 dangerous pest. It is undoubtedly a source of much damage to stock 



