The range of the elk covered a magnificent domain. The map prepared by Mr. Ernest T. Seton, after twenty years of research, is the last word on the subject. It appears on page 43, Vol. I, of his great work, "Life Histories of Northern Animals," and I have the permission of author and publisher to reproduce it here, as an object lesson in wild-animal extermination. Mr. Seton recognizes (for convenience, only?) four forms of American elk, two of which, _C. nannodes_ and _occidentalis_, still exist on the Pacific Coast. The fourth, _Cervus merriami_, was undoubtedly a valid species. It lived in Arizona and New Mexico, but became totally extinct near the beginning of the present century. In 1909 Mr. Seton published in the work referred to above a remarkably close estimate of the number of elk then alive in North America. Recently, a rough count--the first ever made--of the elk in and around the Yellowstone Park, revealed the real number of that largest contingent. By taking those results, and Mr. Seton's figures for elk outside the United States, we obtain the following very close approximation of the wild elk alive in North America in 1912: LOCALITY NUMBER AUTHORITY Yellowstone Park and vicinity 47,000 U.S. Biological Survey. Idaho (permanently), 600 Washington 1,200 Game Warden Chris. Morgenroth. Oregon 500 California 400 New York, Adirondacks 400 State Conservation Commission. Minnesota 50 E.T. Seton. Vancouver Island 2,000 E.T. Seton. British Columbia (S.-E.) 200 E.T. Seton. Alberta 1,000 E.T. Seton. Saskatchewan 500 E.T. Seton In various Parks and Zoos 1,000 E.T. Seton. ------ Total, for all America. 54,850 In 1905, a herd of twenty of the so-called dwarf elk of the San Joaquin Valley, California, were taken to the Sequoia National Park, and placed in a fenced range that had been established for it on the Kaweah River. The extermination of the wapiti began with the settlement of the American colonies. Naturally, the largest animals were the ones most eagerly sought by the meat-hungry pioneers, and the elk and bison were the first game species to disappear. The colonists believed in the survival of the fittest, and we are glad that they did. The one thing that a hungry pioneer cannot withstand is--temptation--in a form that embraces five hundred pounds of succulent flesh. And let it not be supposed that in the eastern states there were only a few elk. The Pennsylvania salt licks were crowded with them, and the early writers describe them as existing in "immense bands" and "great numbers."