Other West Yellowstone Wildlife

As one of the main entrances into Yellowstone National Park, the town of West Yellowstone is a great starting point for your adventure into the park. Known for its unsurpassable beauty, unbelievable geysers and vast variety of wildlife, Americas first national park is one of the worlds finest. When it comes to viewing a great range of wildlife, Yellowstone is hands down the best place.

Yellowstone is world-famous for its wildlife and provides an outstanding natural setting in which to observe bison, elk, moose, wolves, coyotes, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep and others. An easy way to find wildlife is to watch the brake lights in front of you, the cars pulled off to the side and all the cameras pointing in one direction. Be sure to bring binoculars with you on your trip. A spotting scope is also handy when trying to spot distant bears and wolves. For safety, stay at least 25 yards away from bison and elk and at least 100 yards away from bears.

The birds of Yellowstone are quite unique. With trumpeter swans, white pelicans, bald eagles, ospreys and golden eagles flying overhead, youre bound to see at least a few of these wonderful and graceful creatures during your trip. Bald eagles and ospreys have mounted an impressive comeback in the recent years and can be seen along the Yellowstone River and above Yellowstone Lake.

Both brown and black bears call Yellowstone home. Between 1970 and 1972, dozens of grizzles died in showdowns with humans in the park and surrounding areas. Fortunately, careful management in the ensuing years has assisted in the populations rebound. Today, there are believed to be at least 400 grizzlies living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and their numbers have been increasing steadily since the 1980s.

Known for their robust bodies and mountain dwelling, bighorn sheep can be seen in several parts of Yellowstone. Sporting a tan-colored coat with a white rump patch, these animals were an important food source of the Sheepherder Indians who resided in Yellowstone before the arrival of the whites. Both the rams and ewes (females) have horns that remain for life, but only the rams get the distinctive curl. Bighorns use their ability to scale steep and rocky terrain as sanctuary from predators such as coyotes, wolves and mountain lions. Watch for bighorn sheep on cliffs in the Gardner River Canyon and along Specimen Ridge.

Bison are generally found in open country throughout the park including Hayden, Lamar and Pelican Valleys, as well as the Firehole River Basin. A good time to view bison in the park is late May, just after new calves have been born. Be sure to use caution around bison and stay at least 25 yards away.

Elk are animals that every visitor should see if nothing else. About 30,000 of these regal creatures summer in the park and approximately 15,000 remain throughout the winter. In summer, watch for elk in Mammoth Hot Springs, Elk Park and Gibbons Meadows. The bugling of bull elk is a common autumn sound and can be heard around Mammoth Hot Springs. The mating season ends in mid- to late November and winter snows force elk to lower elevations or out of the park into the surrounding areas.

The best places to look for moose are in Hayden Valley, on the shores of Yellowstone Lake, the Willow Park area north of Norris, the southwestern corner along the Bechler and Falls Rivers and along the Gallatin, Lamar, and Lewis River drainages.

Handfuls of other wildlife roam the Greater Yellowstone area. Several companies offer guided sight-seeing wildlife tours throughout the park. For more information, get a complete list of licensed tour operators from the Park Service.