THE WICHITA NATIONAL FOREST AND GAME PRESERVE £> 



The most important grazing area within the inclosure is known 

 as Winter Valley because of its excellence as a winter range. Many 

 old buffalo wallows are found there, and mesquite grass is sufficiently 

 abundant under normal climatic conditions to winter the herd ulti- 

 mately to be maintained on the Wichita National Forest. The water 

 supply on the range is ample, pure, and constant. 



The eight buffalo cows and seven bulls from the New York Zoolog- 

 ical Society were shipped from New York and received at the Wichita 

 Game Preserve in October, 1907. The herd thrived steadily from 

 the beginning. Two cows were lost in the early years from Texas or 

 tick fever, and several bulls have died or been killed in family quarrels. 

 By 1915 the herd numbered approximately 65; in 1920 there were 

 150 in the pasture. It had become apparent by that time that the 

 ultimate size of the herd would soon have to be determined since the 



Fig. 3.— Texas longhorns 



carrying capacity of the 8,000-acre pasture has a definite limit. Also 

 in the meantime small bands of elk and a herd of antelope had been 

 brought in and the elk were multiplying rapidly. Accordingly, care- 

 ful range estimates were prepared and a decision reached to limit the 

 buffalo to 200 head — 180 females and 20 males. With a view to 

 regulating the proportion of males and females a procedure was 

 worked out under which the surplus males could be disposed of by 

 sale or by gift to municipalities, zoological societies, and other inter- 

 ested agencies. Among the donations may be mentioned 1 bull and 2 

 cows to the Government of Mexico in the fall of 1923, 1 bull to the 

 city of Montevideo, Uruguay, and a return of 4 heifers, 1 yearling 

 bull, and 1 bull calf to the New York Zoological Park. Thirty calves 



