■ • Fauna of Alaslca , . .," 



Big-game animals indigenous to Als,ska include the' moose, caribou, 

 Sitka deer, mo-untain goat, Dall sheep, and the "black, grizzly, Ala?ka 

 "brown, and polar "bears. Introduced game animals are 'tht? elk, "Lufialo, and 

 musk ox, ■ Of these the musk ox originally was indigenous, "but it was ex- 

 tirpated ahout a cent-'jry ago, and has since "been reintroduced, 34 animals 

 having "been captured in eastern Greenland and ""Drought to Alaska in 1920. 

 The herd v/as placed on Nunivak Island and nui:."bered .alDout 90 animals in 

 1940. Eight elk introduced in 1928 from the State of fi^ashington and placed 

 on Afognak Island had increased to nearly 200 in 1940. ^he herd of 23 b\if- 

 faloes "brought to Fairbanks from Montana in 1928 totaled about 200 in 1939, 

 Reindeer introduced from Siberia over a period of years from 1691 to 1902 

 have increased from about 1,280 to an estimated 1,000,000 animals. The 

 reindeer is a semidomestic animal. 



The approximate number of game animals in Alaska is estimated by the 

 Alaska Game Commission to be about one and one-third million, as follows: 

 Moose, 50,000; caribou, 1,000,000; Sitka deer, 40,000; mountain goats, 

 12 ►500; Dall sheep, 40,000; black bears, 100,000; A.laska brown bears and 

 grizzlies, 18,300; and polar bears, 3,000. 



Land fur animals in; Alaska have been estimated ''oy the Alaska Game Com- 

 mission to nijunber about 91,500,000, as. follows: Ground squirrels-, 10,000,000; 

 tree squirrels, 40,000,000;- flying squirrels, 2,000,000; marmots, 2,000,000; 

 white foxes, 60,000;- blue foxes, 4Q, 000; red foxes, 160,000; cross foxes, 

 25,000; silver-black foxes, 500; Arctic hares, 250,000; snowshoe hares, 

 30,000,000; beavers, 300,000; muskrats, 4,000 vCO.O; martens, 30,000; mirJcs, 

 .500,000; weasels, 2,000,000; land otters, 30,000; wolverines', 7,500; l;y'nxes, 

 20,000. . . . . • - . ^^ 



Predators, which- also hs-ve a fur value, are the' wolf and the coyote. 

 The number of wolves is roughXv estimated to be about 7,000. The coyotes, 

 fairly recent arrivals in Ala-si'::a, have increased greatly and have spread to 

 all parts of the Territory except southeast. Their estimated number is 

 about, 10,000. The number of wolf and coyote pelts on which bounty was paid 

 during 'the biennium April 1,, .0:937., to Ivlay 31, 1S39, was 8,250. From April 1, 

 1939, -to September 12, 1939, of the present biennivun, bounty has been paid 

 on 1,893 coyotes and wolves. .About twice as many coyotes as wolves have been 

 tiirned in. 



Shrews are found in Alaska, but bats are exceedingly rare. The rodents, 

 aside from rabbits and squirrels, include the lemming, porcupine, pika, rock- 

 chuck, and many species of mice. The smaller rodents and rabbits furnish 

 an important food supply for many fur animals. Like upland-game birds they 

 seem to come and go in cycles of abundance at approximately 9-year intervals. 

 The cause 'of this recurrent depletion has not yet been learned. 



