Yellowstone National Park is known worldwide for the wildlife and natural wonders it contains. Photographers wait for hours to get the perfect photograph of anything they can find. If you find yourself in the northwestern United States, why not hop onto a Salt Lake Express bus to West Yellowstone and learn why?
Here is a short list of some of the wildlife you can see!
The Gray Wolf
Gray wolves live in Yellowstone in family groups called packs. Their size, pack membership, and visibility vary. See the park’s wolf guide for Yellowstone-specific information.
The Grizzly Bear
Grizzly bears are brown bears with a prominent shoulder hump. Their fur varies in color; light-tipped hairs give the coat its “grizzled” appearance—not ice. Learn how to distinguish Yellowstone’s bears.
The Mountain Lion
The Mountain Lion has many names. Some of the common ones are Puma, Panther and Cougar. They are located all throughout the Americas, and where they live has a profound influence on their size! Near the equator, they are much smaller, and the further north you go the larger they get. Smaller cats weigh between 64 and 115 pounds and larger cats can reach 141-220 pounds depending on gender. They are solitary creatures with wide ranges, living wherever food and shelter can be found. If you are interested, you can learn more here.
Red Fox
Red Foxes typically have red fur, with white fur across their bellies and chest. They can have gray patches, however, which sometimes causes them to be mistaken for their cousin the gray fox. The best way to tell the difference is to check the tail: gray foxes have a black tipped tails and red foxes have white tipped tails. Red foxes prefer to eat rabbits and mice, but are efficient scavengers when necessary. Their hearing is so good they can hear mice and other rodents digging underground! Click here to learn more!
Coyote
Yellowstone coyotes primarily eat small mammals such as mice, voles, and rabbits, as well as carrion. They are not primarily hunters of adult bison and moose. Read the park’s coyote guide for more about their behavior.
River Otter
River otters are highly social, playful animals. They live in families, usually a female and her offspring, or a group of males. Otters like to eat fish, which they hunt by hiding and ambushing them. They also eat insects, birds and some frogs and lizards. Otters have have few water predators, but on land they are hunted by everything from bobcats to grizzly bears. They are not considered endangered or at risk. If you want to know more about otters, here is a good place to start.
American Buffalo
American Buffalo are commonly called Bison. They can stand up to 6 feet tall and weigh upwards of 900 pounds. They live about 20 years when not raised in captivity, that’s why we love seeing them free in Yellowstone. Bison are identifiable by the hump on their back and their shaggy brown fur, They often grow beards and and the fur on their front is longer than the fur towards their rump. The eat constantly, and often do so even while on the move. Find more information about Bison here.
Yellowstone Elk
Elk are Yellowstone’s most abundant large mammal. Their numbers inside the park change seasonally as herds migrate. Each elk weighs between 500 and 700 pounds. Males grow antlers which have on average 6 tines or points. They use them to establish dominance over other males during mating, or “rutting”, season. The word elk originated with European settlers. The closest thing they had seen to an elk was a Moose, and so they used their name for moose. European still use the term Elk to refer to Moose, and this causes some confusion among European visitors.
Moose
Moose are the largest members of the deer family. They stand 6 feet tall and weigh up to 1,000 pounds. Because Moose are so tall, they have a hard time bending over to eat grass. Instead, they eat twigs and leaves. The word “moose” was the Algonquin word meaning “eaters of twigs”. Interestingly, each of their hairs is hollow, which allows the them to act as insulation in the winter. Unlike females, males grow antlers in the spring for use during mating season in the fall. The antlers can grow to up to 6 feet and are used to fight other bulls for territory or mates. To find out more about moose in Yellowstone, go here!
Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn sheep are adapted to steep, rocky terrain. Rams have large, curved horns; ewes have smaller horns. Look for them around rocky slopes and canyons, and learn more in the Yellowstone bighorn sheep guide.
Mule Deer
Mule deer get their name from their large ears, which reminded settlers of a mule. Their other defining feature is the “mask” on their face. Mule deer range between 3 and 3.5 feet tall and 4 to 7 feet long. They usually weigh between 130 and 280 pounds. They are actually very picky eaters: they will eat only the most nutritious foods. This means they have more robust requirements for foraging and fewer places to live.
Pronghorn Antelope
Pronghorn Antelope are easily identifiable by their horns, as shown in the picture above. They are remarkably agile, and can reach speeds of nearly 60 miles per hour. Pronghorns also have excellent vision, which allows them to spot predators from further away on their long migrations. They will eat grasses shrubs and most other greenery, and they seldom drink water since they get all the water they need from the plants they eat. If you’d like to know more, go here.
White Tailed Deer
White-tailed deer are named for the white underside of their tail. They live throughout most of the Rocky Mountains, Arizona and most of Mexico. White Tailed Deer stand almost 3 feet tall and can weigh up to 300 pounds. Males grow antlers as seen in the photograph above and when frightened they raise their tail to signal other deer that danger is near by. More information on White Tailed Deer can be found here.
Beaver
The American Beaver is the largest rodent in North America. The distinguishing feature of the beaver is it’s long flat tail, which it uses to navigate more easily in the water. It also uses its tail to raise the alarm when there is danger by slapping the water. The Beaver builds dams by chewing down trees or chewing through branches to build their homes. Their teeth are always growing, so chewing on trees prevents their teeth from getting too long. Find out more here!
Chipmunks
Chipmunks are rodents that can often be seen playing, fighting for food and generally scampering around the Yellowstone area. They are small and striped, and they hoard food in preparation for winter. This makes them an important part of the ecosystem because it moves seeds around for plants and trees. They are also an important source of food for predators, such as foxes and coyotes. Information on Chipmunks can be found here.
Yellow Bellied Marmots
Yellow bellied marmots are also called Rock Chucks and are a member of the ground squirrel family. They are found across the mountainous areas of Canada and the Western United States. Marmots are typically brown in color and weigh about 11 pounds. They are very common and not considered to be under threat. They like to poke their heads out of their burrows and look at anything they are curious about that might be passing by. If you’d like to learn more this is a good place to start.
Red Squirrels
While Red Squirrels may be very common they are also very cute! The are another animal that hoards nuts and berries leading up to the winter months and are therefore important for the life cycles of trees and other plants. They also serve as prey for most ground predators and even some larger birds. They can be fearless around humans when they live in cities and towns, and their habitat crosses readily into areas with large human populations. For more information about squirrels, here is a good place to start.
Bats
Yellowstone’s bats eat insects and are active at night. White-nose syndrome is a threat to bat populations. Do not handle bats; leave them undisturbed. Read the park’s bat guide for current information.
While this may seem like an extensive list, there are many more animals to see in Yellowstone Park! Go to Yellowstone National Park’s Website to learn more.
Plan the bus portion of your trip on our Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone route page. Arrange transportation into the park separately. Follow Yellowstone’s wildlife safety rules: stay at least 100 yards from bears, wolves, and cougars, and 25 yards from other wildlife.