Animals

Yellow-bellied marmots

NPS Photo

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks have an impressive elevation range from the low foothills to the Sierra Nevada peaks, and provide habitat for a diversity of animals.

Below are highlights of animals you can find at different elevation zones of the parks, and links to learn more about park animals.

Foothills

In the low-elevation foothills, summers are hot and dry and winters are mild. You will find oak woodlands, dense chaparral shrubs, and riverside vegetation like California sycamores, willows and cottonwoods. A number of animals live in this area year-round, while some only winter or breed here. Local species include the gray fox, bobcat, striped and spotted skunks, black bear, woodrat, pocket gopher, white-footed mouse, California quail, scrub jay, lesser goldfinch, wrentit, acorn woodpecker, gopher snake, California kingsnake, striped racer, western whiptail lizard, and the California newt.

Montaine Forests and Meadows

In the low to mid-montane elevations are mixed forests of pine, incense-cedar, fir, and scattered groves of giant sequoia provide. Further upslope, grow pure stands of magnificent red fir and lodgepole pine forest. Scattered meadows are lush with many kinds of flowers in the summer. Winters are typically snowy. Year-round and seasonal residents include the chickaree, gray squirrel, golden-mantled ground squirrel, mule deer, black bear, mountain lion, and a variety of birds. Resident birds include western tanager, violet-green swallow, white-throated swift, Wilson's warbler, olive-sided flycatcher, hermit thrush, western bluebird, and pileated woodpecker. Reptiles are not common, but occasionally mountain kingsnake, rubber boa, western fence lizard, and alligator lizard can be seen.

Subalpine and Alpine Areas

The high country is a land of lakes, meadows, some open forest, and miles of granite. Mammals are less common here, and food is scarce. Mammals inhabiting these high Sierra landscapes include the marmot, pika, and white-tailed jack rabbit. Birds include the Clark's nutcracker, mountain bluebird, American pipit, and gray-crowned rosy finch. In this region, you may also be lucky enough to find a mountain yellow-legged frog or a Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, both endangered species for which recovery efforts are underway.

 

 

 

More Information

Use the NPSpecies tool below to get park animal or plant checklists. Be aware that species lists and taxonomy are dynamic and some of the lists in this database may need to be updated.

 

×

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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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.

×

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:

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Select a Species Category (optional):

All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

Get Checklist Get Full List List Differences

Species attribute definitions

Search results will be displayed here.

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