28 KAISING DEER IN THE UNITED STATES. 



and William C. Whitney, both deceased. The Corbin preserve is on 

 Croyden Mountain, near Newport, N. H., and the Whitney pre- 

 serve was on October Mountain, near Lenox, Mass. At Mount Po- 

 cono, Pennsylvania, Garl Tielenius has a considerable herd of elk, 

 kept on lands over which the wild elk ranged in the early part of 

 the last century. 



The New York Forest, Fish, and Game Commission have made in 

 the Adirondacks the first systematic efforts in the East to restore 

 elk to their former ranges. In June, 1901, the late William C. 

 Whitney presented 22 head of elk — 5 bulls and 17 cows — from his 

 Massachusetts herd. This was followed in 1902 and 1903 by two gifts 

 of larger herds from the same source and in 1906 by a gift of a herd 

 of 26 from Mr. Corbin's Blue Mountain Forest Park, in New Hamp- 

 shire. The elk were liberated in small bands at various places, 

 mostly on state lands, and their increase has been satisfactory. It 

 was estimated that on December 31, 1906, the total number at large 

 in the Adirondacks was about 350 head. a The elk, under proper pro- 

 tection, may be expected to become abundant again in the North 

 Woods. The example of New York might well be followed by all 

 States that have wild lands suitable for the elk. Pennsylvania has 

 ideal places for the animals in her game preserves recently estab- 

 lished, and all the States traversed by the Allegheny Mountain ranges 

 have abundant wild lands for the introduction of the species. The 

 cost of stocking with the animals would be slight compared with their 

 ultimate value to the State. In New Hampshire there is reason to 

 suppose that the beginning of a wild herd exists in animals that 

 have escaped from the Corbin preserve. Forty-eight elk in one 

 herd are reported to have been recently seen running at large in the 

 forests. 5 



EXPERIENCE IN RAISING ELK. 



Although the American wapiti is less prolific than the common 

 deer and some other species that have been bred in parks, it increases 

 quite as fast as the red deer and is more hardy and easily managed. 

 It has been successfully acclimatized in many parts of the world, 

 and in England and on the Continent it has been crossed with both 

 the Altai wapiti and the red deer. The hybrids in both cases were 

 superior to the native stock in size and stamina. 



The elk has been successfully bred in confinement in many parts 

 of the United States, and in some instances has been domesticated. 

 Audubon and Bachman say of it: 



This species can be easily domesticated, as we have observed it in menageries 

 and in parks both of Europe and America. The males, like those of the Vir- 



° Field and Stream, XII, 598, November, 1907. 

 b Recreation, XXVII, 129, March, 1908. 



