n process of creation To be
stocked
IN CANADA.
Buffalo Park, Wainwright, Alberta 1,052
Elk Island Park, Alberta 53
Rocky Mountains Park, Banff, Alberta 27
Total National and Provincial Preserves 1,365
Of wild bison there are only three groups: 49 head in the Yellowstone
National Park, about 75 Pablo "outlaws" around the Montana Bison Range,
and between 300 and 400 head in northern Athabasca, southwest of Fort
Resolution, existing in small and widely scattered bands.
The efforts of man to atone for the great bison slaughter by preserving
the species from extinction have been crowned with success. Two
governments and two thousand individuals have shared this task,--solely
for sentimental reasons. In these facts we find reason to hope and
believe that other efforts now being made to save other species from
annihilation will be equally successful.
* * * * *
CHAPTER XVIII
THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF AFRICAN GAME
Thanks to the diligence with which sportsmen and field naturalists have
recorded their observations in the haunts of big game, it is not at all
difficult to forecast the immediate future of the big game of the world.
We may safely assume that all lands well suited to agriculture, mining
and grazing will become populated by rifle-bearing men, with the usual
result to the wild mammals and birds. At the same time, the game of the
open mountains everywhere is thinly distributed and easily exterminated.
On the other hand, the unconquerable forest jungles of certain portions
of the tropics will hold their own, and shelter their four-footed
inhabitants for centuries to come.
On the open mountains of the world and on the grazing lands most big
game is now being killed much faster than it breeds. This is due to the
attacks of five times too many hunters, open seasons that are too long,
and bag limits that are far too liberal. As an example, consider Africa
Viewed in any way it may be taken, the bag limit in British East Africa
is appallingly high. Notice this astounding array of wild creatures that
_each hunter_ may kill under a license costing _only $250!_
2 Buffalo
2 Rhinoceros
2 Hippopotamus
1 Eland
2 Grevy Zebra
20 Common Zebra
2 Fringe-eared Oryx
4 Beisa Antelope
4 Waterbuck
1 Sable Antelope
1 Roan Antelope
1 Greater Kudu
4 Lesser Kudu
10 Topi
20 Coke Hartebeest
2 Neumann Hartebeest
4 Jackson Harteb
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