NORTH AMERICAN RUMINANTS. 
By J. A. ALLEN, Ph.D., 
Curator, Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Tue Ruminants of North America comprise the Deer, the 
Pronghorn Antelopes, the Bighorn or Mountain Sheep, the Moun- 
tain Goats and the Bison or “ Buffalo.’’ They are all “game 
animals,’ and, like the game animals of all parts of the world, 
they are, in many instances, rapidly approaching extermination. 
The Bison, once so abundant on our western plains, is now almost 
an animal of the past. The Elk or Wapiti Deer has been exter- 
minated over probably nine-tenths of its former range; the 
Pronghorn, the Virginia Deer and the Mule Deer have also be- 
come greatly restricted, as has the Moose. Even the Caribou and 
the Musk-Ox in the far North are being slaughtered annually by 
the thousand, and are becoming exterminated over extensive 
areas where they were formerly abundant. 
The partial extermination of large mammals is inevitable, as 
the country becomes settled, and the land is required for agricul- 
tural purposes, but in this country the waste of animal life has 
been enormous and inexcusable. The Buffalo was slaughtered 
by the million long before its haunts were needed for settlement, 
partly for its hide and partly to afford sport for the big-game 
hunter. The slaughter of the Elk in the trans-Mississippian ter- 
ritory has been almost equally needless and extensive. The 
Rocky Mountain Bighorn has been wiped out of existence over 
large portions of its natural range, and now the destruction of 
the Caribou and Moose in the far North is proceeding with almost 
incredible rapidity, not only in the regions invaded by the miner 
and prospector, but also along the Arctic coast for the supply of 
whale ships with fresh meat. Doubtless some of the strongly 
marked climatic races of the Deer tribe have been wholly de- 
stroyed, with no specimens in our museums to testify to their 
former existence. 
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