Plants, Animals & More

A snowshoe hare blends in with its surroundings in Denali National Park & Preserve. NPS Photo/ Tim Rains

Alaska's flora and fauna fascinate scientists, visitors, and wildlife lovers alike. From the popular flagship species that visitors travel across the world to see, to the lesser-noticed critters and plants that make up Alaska's ecosystems, the range of organisms to be found here is broad. Read about the work that the National Park Service does to preserve these places and the flora and fauna that depend on them, or find the full species list of a park with the park selector below.

For more information on Alaskan wildlife and ecosystems, visit the Alaska Nature and Science website or Alaska Park Science.

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Alagnak Wild River Alaska Public Lands Aleutian Islands World War II National Historic Area Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Cape Krusenstern National Monument Denali National Park & Preserve Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve Iñupiat Heritage Center Katmai National Park & Preserve Kenai Fjords National Park Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Kobuk Valley National Park Lake Clark National Park & Preserve Noatak National Preserve Sitka National Historical Park Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve

Select a Species Category (optional):

All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

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Species attribute definitions

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Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.