WOODLAND CARIBOU 



135 



Woodland Caribou are not numerous anywhere 

 in the Canadian Northwest Territories, for in all 

 my travels for the Geological Survey of Canada, 

 extending over the period from 1SS3 to 1898, 

 I did not see a dozen of those animals, though on 

 hundreds of different occasions I saw their great 

 wide-spreading tracks. The only one I ever shot 

 was feeding on a rocky hill, beside a stream that 

 flows into the east side of Lake Winnipeg; and 

 his head is now hanging in the Museum of the 

 Geological Survey, in Ottawa. 



"The smaller species of Caribou lives on the 

 Barren Grounds during the summer. On the 

 approach of winter most of the animals migrate 



est and value. To man}' Indian tribes, such as 

 the Dog-Ribs and Yellow Knives, and to many of 

 the Eskimo tribes also, it has been an important 

 source of subsistence, both in food and clothing. 

 It is so peculiarly a creature of treeless and in- 

 hospitable regions, and is so independent of the 

 conditions which are essential to the existence 

 of all round-horned members of the Deer Family, 

 that its desolate home has been inseparably con- 

 nected with its popular name. Species may 

 come, and species may go, but we hope that the 

 brave and hardy Barren Ground Caribou will 

 go on forever. 



It is natural that in any animal species which 



antlers of creenland caribou (/?. groenlandicvs). 



Showing the form characteristic of the Barren Ground Caribou group. Specimen from the northwest coast of 



Greenland, in author's collection. 



southward to the edge of the forest, though 

 some remain throughout the winter on the open 

 barrens. 



"Twice, in 1893 and 1894, 1 met what is known 

 as 'the herd,' on its way southward, once on a 

 good feeding ground, where hundreds of thou- 

 sands were collected together, and again on a 

 rough, rocky tract where the individual bands 

 rarely exceeded a few hundred in number, and 

 all were on the run." 



Barren Ground Caribou Group. 



Throughout a vast and very hungry sweep of 

 northlands, the Barren Ground Caribou 1 long 

 has been, and still is, an animal of leading inter- 

 1 Ran'gi-fer arc'ti-cus. 



ranges from the east coast of Greenland to the 

 west coast of Alaska (3,500 miles in an air line), 

 and from Grant Land to the Churchill River 

 (1,800 miles), some variations in form, color and 

 horn architecture should occur. Indeed, in a 

 range so immense, it could scarcely be otherwise. 

 While it is probable that some of these variations 

 justify the creation of specific divisions, we are 

 at present less concerned with these details than 

 with a consideration of the group as a whole. 

 Moreover, it may be said with entire truth that 

 naturalists have but recently begun to study the 

 caribou of America ; and until far more material 

 has been gathered, it is impossible to set forth 

 the true status and life history of this genus. 

 The characters which serve to distinguish 



