Palisadian., 1924-10-03
EAGLE AND CARIBOU
FAST DISAPPEARING
Bounty Threatens to Wipe
Out National Bird.

New York.-Edwin A. Osborne Of
Richmond Hill has just returned from
a two months trip in Alaska and the
Northwest, where he made a survey Of
animal life and forestry conditions on
which he will report to the Permanent
Wild Life Protection Fund, of which
William L. Hornaday is the head.
Mr.. Osborne said he had observed
the bald eagle was being slowly but
surely exterminated in Alaska under
the working of the bounty paid by the
government for it's destruction. The
imposition Of the bounty was Sc
cured, he said, by the influence of fox
young foxes and salmon of all ages
were the food of the eagles and they
needed protection against them.
On the contrary, Mr.. Osborne says
he found there has been no reduction
in the mortality of young foxes since
the campaign was started, even though
great numbers of eagles have been
killed by the bounty hunters.
The fox farmers, Mr.. Osborne says,
maintain that either the eagles must
be exterminated or commercial fox
breeding given up. He found no justi-
fication in the facts he observed for
such an extreme view, and said that
with proper protection of the fox en-
closures the amount of damage done
by eagles would be negligible.
s-A i l.
that there should be complete protec-
tion of eagles, but says in his opinion
the present bounty should be abolished
in order that they may survive to the
extent that ordinary conditions of wild
life in the region would dictate.
Should Not Be Exterminated.
The bald eagle, he points out, is a
typical product of the natural life of
this country and has been adopted as
the American national bird. From this
viewpoint, he says, 1t should not be al
lowed to be eXtermfnated.
The caribou Of Alaska is threatened
with the same fate as the American
bison or buffalo, in the opinion Of Mr..
Osborne. He says the giant deer are
plentiful now and are protected by a
closed season, but that during the hunt
ing season, he was informed by ma
tives, great numbers of them are
slaughtered, sometimes wantonly, and
the protective law Is enforced with
great difficulty in many instances.
Alaskan natives take the same atti-
tude toward the caribou as was for
merly taken toward the buffalo-name-
ly, that there are so many of them
that they will never be extinct Never
theless, he says, the time will come, II
present conditions continue, when the
caribou may fill the same role the buff
falo fills tOday-that of member of a
few small herds preserved with great
difficulty as geological curiosities.
Part of Mr.. Osborne's work was to
survey conditions relating to forest
fires. He saw many devastated re
of the state of Washington. California
has also suffered greatly from this
devastation, though Mr.. Osborne die
not visit that state. Coming east, he
said, while crossing Montana, the
smoke from forest fires penetrated the
train to such an extent that passengers
were discounted by it.
Tourists Cause the Fires.
Forest fires in these regions, he said
he learned, are caused mostly by tour
lists from the East, who go into the re-
gions without the slightest knowledge
of workmanship and do not know the
damage they are causing, in the first
place, nor would they know how to pre-
vent it if they did.
In Seattle, Wash, while trying to get
photographs of. four young bears which
had been captured. Mr.. Osborne was
attacked by them and severely bitten
and scratched. He says the bears were
not angry, but were practicing their
ideas of playfulness on him. They
came at him from both sides and
wrapped their limbs about him, scratch
ing and clawing at his body and shoul-
ders and biting his legs. They were
finally pried loose by men who came
up, but their victim bore the signs OF
their attentions for weeks and will
carry them permanently in the way OF
scars.
With several companions. Mr.. Os-
borne climbed the Denver Glacier, sit
uated ten miles from Skagway on an
abandoned gold rush trail. The party
did not use the usual "creepers." On
the way down the party had narrow
escape from falling into a crevasse. A
report of the observations of the trip
will be made to Doctor Hornaday.