Yellowstone Wildlife
Intro to Yellowstone
What is the Wildlife Acre program?
  Yellowstone

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The greater Yellowstone ecosystem provides unique homes for wildlife species ranging from bighorn sheep to bald eagles.


Graphic of paw printWildlife

Gray Wolf
Mountain Lion
Black Bear
Grizzly Bear
Wolverine
Lynx
Elk
Buffalo

Pronghorn
Mule Deer
White-tailed Deer
Bighorn Sheep
Mountain Goat
Bald Eagle
Whooping Crane
Graphic of leafEcosystems
Alpine Tundra
Coniferous Forest
Mountain Meadows
Sage-steppe Grasslands
Riparian Areas
Photo of Lynx

Secretive and solitary, the lynx once prowled the snowy evergreen forests of North America in large numbers; now the animals have almost disappeared in the U.S. Snowshoe hares are its chief prey, and populations of both species fluctuate together every seven to ten years. The lynx depends on dense, mature forest for dens. Its decline is an indication of the loss of such ecosystems to forest clearing. Lynx require huge territories that are mostly free of human development; as people move into an area, lynx move out.

Related Resources

Seeking Safe Passage - Scientists are increasingly discovering the benefits of protecting wildlife corridors, like those in the Yellowstone ecosystem, that connect isolated wildlife habitats.

A Top Dog Takes Over - Exterminated from Yellowstone National Park eight decades ago, gray wolves are back — and boosting the park's biodiversity.

Rebirth of Yellowstone's Wolves - The saga of the first wolf pups born in the region in seven decades

Clash of the Carnivores - What happens when the hunters become the hunted at Yellowstone?

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