146 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



of the Irish sea, only about a square mile in extent, two or three fallow 

 deer were introduced some years ago ; they have increased and formed 

 a herd there and, according to the owner of the island, you could not 

 imagine a finer, stronger herd of animals, yet it has been entirely 

 developed by in-bre«ding. Therefore, in the light of the knowledge 

 of those cases, I do not think there is much to fear regarding the bison 

 or buffalo decreasing in virility in our Wainwright park. 



Animals in '^^^ Dominion and provincial parks are known, of 



Focest course, to most of you and I will not deal with the 



Reserves others. On the forest reserves, the game is protected 



in some cases by the Dominion Government. The Dept. of the Interior 

 has forest reserves in the Prairie provinces. In Manitoba the Pro- 

 vincial Government has declared game refuges in the Riding Mountain, 

 the Turtle Mountain and the Spruce Woods reserves. In Saskatche- 

 wan the Provincial Government has declared game reserves, or 

 refuges as they call them, in the Beaver Hills, the Pines, Moose Moun- 

 tain and Porcupine No. 2 forest reserves. The animals in these 

 reserves, while they are not quite on the same footing as regards pro- 

 tection as those in the Dominion parks, are, nevertheless, protected as 

 much as is possible under the circumstances. They are not protected 

 as much as they should be, as I found out by actual investigation, but 

 that is largely due to local difficulties and to the men who are put 

 in charge. 



Coming finally to the third class — the game in the 

 o/ CarSou Northwest Territories— this is regulated by the North- 



west Game Act, which is administered by the Dept. of 

 the Interior, and I understand that this Act is now undergoing some 

 very necessary revision. We need in that north country a much more 

 vigorous policy than we have at present, especially a policy that will 

 actually carry out the law as it is set forth in our Act. I will refer 

 particularly to one case, namely, that of the caribou, which this Com- 

 mission has had under consideration for some time. Stefansson, who 

 is a very ardent advocate of the rights of the Eskimo, and who con- 

 sequently became an equally ardent advocate of the necessity of better 

 protection of the caribou in that northern country, has noted and 

 called our attention to the serious conditions in the north in regard to 

 caribou. The people have rather regarded the caribou as occurring 

 in herds of millions and, when you begin to think of millions, you are 

 liable to assume the impossibility of extermination. As a matter of 

 fact, the caribou has been totally exterminated in some localities. 

 When this question of the preservation and protection of the caribou 



