OCTOBER, 1917 
FOREST AND STREAM 
467 
TO PROTECT NORTHERN MAMMALS 
THE CARIBOU DEPENDED ON BY THE ESKIMO 
FOR FOOD AND CLOTHING SHOULD BE CONSERVED 
REPORT OF DR. C. GORDON HEWITT 
I N the seventh annual report of the Com¬ 
mission of Conservation for Canada ap¬ 
pears an article of very great interest 
on the “Conservation of Our Northern 
Mammals,” by Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt. This 
* paper was printed in Ottawa, and contains 
urgent recommendations made to the com¬ 
mittee on fisheries, game and fur-bearing 
animals for certain alterations in the 
Northwest game act of 1906, which, be¬ 
cause of the changed conditions of ad¬ 
vancing settlement of the Northwest, 
should offer better protection to many 
large mammals. 
Dr. Hewitt ad¬ 
vises, among other 
things, 
That the rigor¬ 
ous protection of 
the wild or 
“wood” bison be 
continued; 
That more pro¬ 
tection be given to 
the caribou, which 
is rapidly becom- 
i n g diminished ; 
and that provision 
be made for 
( a) the absolute 
prohibition of the 
killing of female 
or yearling cari¬ 
bou ; the prohibi¬ 
tion to extend to 
Eskimos and In¬ 
dians ; and, 
(b) the prohibi¬ 
tion of the export 
of caribou skins, 
except under a li¬ 
cense, which shall 
permit bona fide 
hunters or other 
duly authorized 
persons to take 
out only two skins 
and heads; 
That more pro¬ 
tection be given to 
the musk-ox, by 
(a) the prohibi¬ 
tion of the killing 
of musk-ox except 
under license, 
which should per¬ 
mit the taking by 
bona fide hunters 
or other author¬ 
ized persons of not more than two skins 
and heads under each license; natives or 
bona fide explorers to be allowed to kill 
musk-ox for food for their own use but 
not for skins; and, 
(b) the prohibition of the killing of 
musk-ox on Victoria, Banks and Melville 
islands, thus constituting these islands per¬ 
manent refuges for musk-ox and centers 
for their natural distribution; 
That there be a close season on white 
fox from April 1 to November 15: 
That competent game wardens be ap¬ 
pointed by the Minister of the Interior to 
carry out the provisions of the Northwest 
game act in the region between the Alas¬ 
kan boundary and Herschel island on the 
west and Coronation gulf on the east, these 
game wardens to act in addition to the 
Royal Northwest mounted police. 
T HE caribou referred to in these rec¬ 
ommendations is the barren ground 
caribou, which is found in the region 
east of the Mackenzie river. Formerly, 
caribou were found by thousands west of 
the delta of the Mackenzie river and north 
of the Porcupine river; but there they have 
been exterminated. The buffalo oc¬ 
curred by millions, yet it was prac¬ 
tically exterminated, and except for those 
under fence, there remain now only two 
wild herds, one in the Yellowstone park, 
the other in the neighborhood of Fort 
Smith, in western Canada. 
The buffalo’s extermination was perhaps 
economically justified, for the buffalo oc¬ 
cupied lands suited for agriculture and 
other lands suited for cattle growing; but 
this is not true of the caribou, which does 
not occupy agricultural territory and is one 
of the few wild life resources of the north¬ 
ern region. It is required to furnish a 
constant supply of clothing and food for 
northern Indians and for the Eskimo, and 
should be preserved. Of all large animals, 
it is one of the most easily exterminated. 
For many years whalers have made a busi¬ 
ness of feeding their crews and their dogs 
on the meat, and this has been a cause of 
its constant pur¬ 
suit by Eskimos 
and other hunters. 
Besides man, the 
wolves kill many 
caribou—and these 
wolves ought to be 
reduced in num¬ 
ber. 
The number of 
wood bison exist¬ 
ing in the neigh¬ 
borhood of Fort 
Smith is small, 
and it is of great 
importance to pre¬ 
vent further re¬ 
ductions in their 
numbers. If the 
provision which 
forbids their de¬ 
struction shall be 
enforced, these 
animals will pre¬ 
sumably re-estab- 
1 i s h themselves, 
but if they are al¬ 
lowed to grow still 
fewer, a point will 
finally be reached 
where they cannot 
recover. 
The musk-ox 
also is being 
greatly reduced. 
Traders and 
whalers are anx¬ 
ious to get their 
hides, and hire the 
Eskimos to kill 
them for skins. 
There is reason 
to believe that if 
this commercial 
hunting by Eski¬ 
mos and Indians 
were put an end to, the species might 
exist indefinitely, since the difficulties 
of reaching the barren grounds from 
the south are great. Besides the 
natives who destroy the musk-ox for 
their hides, they have in the past 
been butchered by so-called sportsmen, 
some of whom have slaughtered them with 
a wantonness which can hardly be com¬ 
prehended in a man of education and in¬ 
telligence. The musk-ox is unfamiliar 
(continued on page 499) 
Unfamiliar With Man and His Fire-Arms and Easily Rounded Up and Killed 
