Wonderful Wildlife

The Canadian Rockies are renowned around the world for providing the opportunity for humans to view wild animals in their natural habitat. A key part of the national park experience, visitors to the Rockies are fortunate that good habitat for many of the region’s larger mammals exists at roadside. Visitors have an excellent chance of spotting deer, elk, caribou, moose, black bear, coyote, mountain goat and bighorn sheep – especially in early morning and late evening. Harder to spot of the large mammals are the grizzly bear, grey wolf, cougar, lynx, and bobcat which remain deeper in the mountain forests. There is also a good chance that you will spot several smaller mammals like members of the rodent family (least chipmunk, golden-mantled ground squirrel, Columbian ground squirrel, red squirrel, hoary marmot, porcupine, and beaver), rabbit family (pika and the snowshoe hare), and weasel family (American marten).

For those that prefer to daze into the sky, approximately 40 per cent of North American bird species occur in the Rockies. These can be grouped into categories: songbirds, waterfowl, raptors (birds of prey) and ground-dwelling birds. Locations like Canmore and Kananaskis are popular for observing the rare Golden Eagle and Bald Eagle.

The following photos will help you recognize the different wildlife while exploring the Canadian Rockies:

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Some of the photos courtesy of: