DEER, MOOSE, ELK, AND THEIR FAMILY

by Marie M. Jenkins ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 1980

This latest of Jenkins' comprehensive surveys starts with today's deers' giant prehistoric ancestors, then reviews existing ones by species and race. Among them are the Asian musk deer, hunted for perfume; the ""rarest deer in the world""--now possibly extinct--Fea's muntjac (only two have ever been seen) and the black muntjac (only three have been seen); and the once-endangered Florida key deer, saved, suggests Jenkins a bit simplistically, by the campaign of an eleven-year-old boy. Jenkins tells of Pete David's deer, never known in the wild, kept hidden in the Chinese Imperial Hunting Park until the French priest caused some specimens to be sent to Europe shortly before a flood destroyed all those left behind. She explains the nomenclature mixup that results from early English colonists' calling the large American Wapiti (its Shawnee name) an elk, and later settlers dubbing the true American elk (""exactly the same species as the European elk"") a moose. She reports that some Lapps still follow the migrating reindeer herds, often on motor sleds, and some (to disorienting and possibly detrimental effect) have begun trucking their herds to and from summer ranges. Regarding the cariboupipeline issue, she cites recent studies suggesting that the animals' crossings are impeded after all. This leads to a well-put warning against ""rushing in to change nature."" A workmanlike presentation as always.

Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION