W ildlife Watc h
by Jean Arthur
BISON
GRIZZLY BEAR
Yellowstone’s largest mammal, the bison stands six feet tall, 12 feet in length and can weigh 2,000 lbs. While bison may look large and lethargic, this shaggy, bearded and horned animal can gallop 32 mph. Watch bison graze, cavort and take dust baths near the Firehole River, in Hayden and Lamar valleys, and near Mammoth Hot Springs.
Some 400 to 600 Ursus arctus horribilus live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Grizzlies weigh up to 700 lbs. and vary from blond to cinnamon to brown. These omnivores eat both veggies and meat. Grizzlies frequent areas between Mammoth and Norris, the Fishing Bridge area, Mt. Washburn and Lamar Valley.
BIGHORN SHEEP
MULE DEER
Daredevils of the rocky cliffs, the Ovis canadenis leap ledge to ledge near the park’s northern entrance. They frequent rock slopes along the northern edge of Lamar Valley and Tower areas in Yellowstone and Hebgen & Quake lakes west of the park. The horns of older males may wrap in a full curl, while those of the female are smaller and more slender.
Plentiful and graceful, the large-eared Odocoileus hemionus roam in small herds throughout the park. Bucks drop antlers in winter and regrow them every spring.
BLACK BEAR
MOOSE
Ursus americanas reside in the meadows, mountains and treed areas throughout the region. Black or cinnamon colored, these bears search for food favorites like insects, rodents, berries and carrion.
The twig-eater Alces alces wallows among willows, its favorite food. This horse-size swamp lover resides near Lewis Lake, the Pelican Valley and along Highway 191 near West Yellowstone.
COYOTE
PRONGHORN ANTELOPE
Sometimes confused with their larger wolf relative, Canis latrans is about half the size of a wolf, has a bushier tail and pointy ears. Coyotes roam nearly the entire park.
North America’s fastest mammal, the Antilocapra americana sprints up to 70 mph through grasslands of Yellowstone and the West. Pronghorn in the Greater Yellowstone area undergo one of the longest migrations of any land animal in the world—from Grand Teton National Park south to wintering grounds in the Red Desert near Pinedale, Wyoming.
ELK
WOLF
Impressive racks are the hallmark of the region’s bull elk. The Cervus elaphus can run up to 35 mph and weighs up to 1,000 lbs. Some 20,000 elk roam through Yellowstone and neighboring wild areas. They graze year-round between West Yellowstone and Madison, within the Hayden and Lamar valleys and lounge at Mammoth Hot Springs.
Reintroduced into Yellowstone in 1995, over 400 Canis lupis live among more than three-dozen packs in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Wolves eat mainly elk taken through packs. Wolves are sighted in the Lamar and Hayden valleys almost daily and cruise wildlands near West Yellowstone along Highway 191.
12 | Destination Yellowstone Guidebook 2013
destinationyellowstone.com
Photos on these pages by Latham Jenkins/circumerrostock.com. Wolf and bear photos taken at Grizzly Discovery Center. Bighorn Sheep photo by Rick Konrad. Coyote photo by Craig Morris.
Nearly 500 species inhabit the Greater Yellowstone region. Viewing wildlife can be the highlight of any vacation, but animals are wild and unpredictable. Stay at least 25 yards away from wildlife and 100 yards away from bears.