The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1922-10-19
WAR ON WILD LIFE
SAVES VAST HERDS
MUSEUM DIRECTOR SETS $1,000.
U A YEAR ON BIOLOGICAL
SURVEY HUNTERS WORK
Famous Custer Wolf Killed by Gov
ernment Hunters in Wyoming
Alone Destroyed Cattle Valued at
S2o,OOO; Mountain Lion Will XIII
One Deer a Week.

Three million dollars a year is
saved to the country in live stock
value by the hunters and trappers
OF the biological survey who are wag-
ing war in the west on wolves, coy
otes, lynxes and mountain lions, ac-
cording to DR.. Barton Warren Ever
mann, director of the Museum of the
California Academy of Sciences.
These animals were destroying live
stock at the rate of $20,0OO,00 a
year when the survey began it's war
on them, DR.. Evermann told the
American Association for the Adj
vancement of Science in his presiden-
t1al address. Hunters and trappers
for the survey killed more than 50,-
600 predatory animals in one year.
The greatest killer of livestock in
the country vas accounted for by the
hunters of the survey. This was the
notorious Custer wolf of Wyoming
which has been credited with the
slaughter of $4,000 worth of cattle
in seven years. A bounty of $500
had been on his head for several
years, but the old cattle scourge was
too clever for ordinary hunters and
eluded cores who sought the reward.
AS another illustration" contin-
ued DR.. Evermann, "a pack of eight
wolves that had inflicted losses total
ing $4,000 on calves, pigs and sheep
about the Arkansas National forest
were all destroyed by a single bureau
hunter in a period of three weeks.
Still another old renegade wolf re-
ported to have destroyed $4,000
worth of cattle on a single ranch,
besides making heavy inroads on
other ranches, including nine head of
yearling cattle in the last six weeks
of his life, fell a victim to a skill
fully placed trap of a bureau hun
ter.
"The California Fish and Game
Commission estimates that a noun
tain lion will kill on an average of
one deer a week throughout the year
and that there are 600 lions in the
state. At fifty-two deer each they
would kill about 10000 deer annual
ly, which is about twice the number
killed by all the hunters in the state.
From this it appears that the noun
tain lion should receive no protec-
ton.
Fortunately, the great majority of
our important game mammals are
not predacious at all, or only in a
degree. Fortunately, also, some
fairly we'll in some part of their
This is especially true of the
deer.
'The federal and state govern
ments have established a number of
game preserves, some of them under
fence. The principal game animals
in these reservations are buffalo, elk
and antelope. All are showing a sat-
.sfactory increase each year and there
IS every reason to believe that these
nerds will continue to thrive. The
outlook for wild elk, antelope, noun
ain sheep and mountain goats is not
10 encouraging.
Excepting perhaps Africa, no
,ther country in the world ever
North America in the rich
less of it's game mammals, marvel
rich not only in species and sus-
but also in numbers of in
Iividuals. Of the more than 800 spe-
les that might be mentioned, it must
uffice to speak only of a few, for the
tory of former marvellous abund-
nee, wasteful killing without regard
or the future and inevitable exter-
1ination or serious depletion applies
0 all.
1.-THE three species of grizzly bears
hat occupied such a picturesque
lace in the early history of Cali
ornia are all extinct, and it is be-
eyed that not a single individual
emains alive at any place today. :
of the others, while not actual
extinct as species, have been act I
ally exterminated over a large por-
of the country over which they
rigina1ly ranged. Among these are :
overall species of deer, the buffalo, i
loose, elk, antelope, various bears,
'xes and gray squirrels" |