GAME PRESERVATION IN DOMINION PARKS 129 



by the wardens, this source of danger is being kept down. The keep- 

 ing of dogs in the townsites is not encouraged. A heavy license is 

 required and no dogs are allowed to run at large. At present the Parks 

 Branch proposes to inaugurate a vigorous policy with regard to cats. 

 Anybody who heard Mr. Saunders' address* will realize the importance 

 of this proposed measure. Dr. Hornaday has stated that cats destroy 

 many millions of very valuable birds each year. In the state of Massa- 

 chusetts alone it has been calculated that they are responsible for the 

 death of at least 700,000 birds. 



The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act, passed in 1911, re- 

 duced the parks in area and, between the old and new boundaries of 

 Rocky Mo^intains park, left a district of about 3,000 square miles. To 

 continue the protection afforded prior to the Act, the Minister ordered 

 that, during the open season in Alberta, the park wardens patrol this 

 area also and protect the game from the bands of Indians and others 

 who make it their custom to go into the mountains at this season of 

 the year. 



Preservation The most important new work, which has been under- 

 p ** . , taken by the Branch during the past two years, is, 

 Antelope perhaps, the measures taken to preserve the prong- 



horned antelope. This beautiful and curious little animal, which is 

 as graceful as the deer and can outstrip the swiftest greyhound, is now 

 in imminent danger of extinction. In former times it was found in 

 great numbers over most of the western half of this continent, its 

 range extending from Ma,nitoba to the foothills and from Mexico to 

 the far narth. Mr. Thompson-Seton estimates that, at the time of 

 the first settlements in the west, the habitat of this animal covered 

 nearly 2,000,000. square miles and he places the number of antelope 

 at that time at about 10 to every square mile. That means that, half a 

 century ago, there were some 20,000,000 antelopes on the continent. 

 He estimated that, in 1900, there were probably less than 100,000 living, 

 at least half of which were in Mexico. Since that date, records from 

 the United States show the numbers have decreased to half what they 

 were then, so it is evident that, within a comparatively short time, it 

 will be exterminated. In 1912, Hornaday estimated they might last 

 20 years, but recent reports make it doubtful if, in so far as Canada 

 is concerned, even this can be looked for. The chief difficulty encoun- 

 tered in trying to aflford protection to this little animal lies in its own 

 nature. It is delicate, capricious and easily upset. It is so sensitive 

 to shock that, as Hornaday says, it dies literally " at the drop of a hat." 



*See page 155. 



