The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-11-27

While the only reindeer on this continent now
are in Alaska, and the terrtory's production is
restricted by pasturage to 100000 head, there
are millions Of acres in Canada where ten times
as many be fed, and vast stretches in
northern Europe and Asia where reindeer have
been raised for centuries, but never on an ex-
tensive scale, where ten times many be
grazed as in Canada In ALL 444, 900 reindeer
could be supported by Alaska, Canada and Eu-
rasia, assuring a substantial contribution to the
worlds supply of food and utilization Of what
otherwise would be waste land.
But the reindeer is not the only animal which
the government is propagatng in the great
natural game preserve Of Alaska. more re-
cent experiment is with musk-oxen, which have
been introduced into Alaska in the hope rnat
they may become re-estabshed there
In 1927 the legislature of the territory of
Alaska petitioned congress for an appropriation
for establishing experimental herd of musk
oxen at the reindeer experiment station of the
United States biological survey near Fairbanks.
Under the leadership of Representative L. J.
Dickinson Of Iowa and Senator Peter Norbeck
Of South Dakota bill providing $4,000 for
that purpose was finally passed in 1880 and
signed by President Hoover.
With this money the Department Of Agricul-
ture went to work. A herd of "a musk-oxen was
obtained in Greenland in the fall Of that year,
then to New York by boat. Then they were sent
by railway express from New York to Seattle,
Wash, then by steamship to Seward Alaska,
and from Seward to Fairbanks they were taken
by railroad, finally completing their long jour-
ney early this year. At Fairbanks they have
been placed in large enclosure where they are
under the care Of men acquainted with the
peculiar problems Of feeding breeding and man.
agement of these animals under Alaskan condi-
TONS
Evidently the first muskoxen to be captured
and transported alive from their native haunts
were taken on an island near Greenland around
1899. These were shipped to Norway and later
sold for exhibition at park at Woburn Eng
land. The first to reach this country were de-
livered at New York in 1902, and were ex-
hibited at the New York Geological park. A
number Of others were imported during sue
ceeding years.
1t is the hope Of the biological survey of the
Department Of Agriculture that the musk-oxen
may be successfully domesticated and that their
numbers may be increased to utilize large part
OF the vast feeding resources of Alaska which
are largely wasted If the experiment succeeds
and the musk-oxen increase, it may mean a
valuable source of supply of meat and valuable
robes, as well as other products.
Muskoxen are the most truly Arctic of all
the large mammals in North America, according
=
biological survey. At the time of the earliest
exploration of the Arctic muskoxen inhabited
the vast territory north of the great transcon-
tinental forest roaming from the northwestern
shores of Hudson bay to the Mackenzie river
and over most of the Arctic islands and north
ern Greenland They formerly existed In some
numbers in northern Alaska. There seems to be
no authentic records of their occurrence within
the territory since its exploration by Europeans,
though some of the natives state that their
grandfathers killed them in the region south of
Point Barrow, and their skulls and other bones
are still occasionally picked up on the tundra.
1t seems probable that the relatively small
areas north Of the tree limit could not support
sufficient numbers to Withstand the demands
made on them by the surrounding natives Musk
oxen also disappeared long ago from northern
Europe and Asia Fortunately, they have per-
sisted to the present time in limited numbers in
northern Canada, eastern Greenland, and some
of the Arctic islands, though they are much
reduced from their former numbers. The Cana
dian government for the past several years has
been making vigorous efforts to preserve the
remnant of these animals, having established
several reservations for them, one of the most
important Of which Is the Thelon sanctuary,