More Wildlife

Lynx in Denali looks through the grass
A lynx in Denali National Park and Preserve watches intently.

NPS/Ken Conger

When people think about Alaska, they often thiink about the large mammals such as moose, wolves, and bears, but there are many other species of wildlife that play important roles in the ecosystems. Small mammals such as voles and shrews, arctic ground squirrels, hoary marmots, collared pika, and snowshoe hares are important food sources for many animals and are a foundation for a healthy ecosystem. Mesocarnivores, medium-sized mammals, such as wolverine, lynx, coyotes, red foxes, and arctic foxes are also important to functioning ecosystems.

Learn more about wildlife in Alaska

Showing results 1-10 of 84

  • Brooks Range brown bears spend most of the year in their dens

    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve
    • Offices: Arctic Inventory & Monitoring Network
    Snow-covered craggy mountains of the Brooks Range.

    Read a summary and get a link to a published journal article on denning duration of bears in the Brooks Range of Alaska: Deacy, W., M. S. Sorum, M. D. Cameron, G. V. Hilderbrand, D. D. Gustine, and K. Joly. 2025. Denning chronology in an Arctic brown bear population. Wildlife Biology e01420.

  • Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve

    Why Snowshoe Hares Use Mineral Licks

    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve
    A snowshoe hare blending in with the snow-covered landscape.

    After nearly 20 years, the snowshoe hare population in the central Brooks Range on the eastern boundary of Gates of the Arctic National Park is building toward a peak in the population. Traditional ecological knowledge of the area tells us that the coming peak should be considerably larger than the small population increase we saw in 2008-2010. Based on the report: Snowshoe hare population trends at mineral and non-mineral sites in the central Brooks Range, Alaska.

  • How Alaskan Marine Ecosystems Responded to a Massive Heatwave

    • Locations: Katmai National Park & Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park
    Sea otter floats on its back in blue ocean water

    A marine heatwave in the North Pacific had widespread, detrimental impacts on ecosystems and species. Why were some more resilient than others?

  • Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve

    The Great Video Reveal: Emerging Tech Tracks What Caribou Do

    • Locations: Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
    Looping 2 second clip of looking up from below a caribou

    Caribou—a type of deer closely related to reindeer—are intimately connected to their Arctic environment, which is experiencing rapid climate change. These animals are notoriously hard to study, but new video camera collars put the spotlight on how they’re responding.

  • Cohesion among canids: Insights into social behavior

    • Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve, Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
    • Offices: Central Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
    Wolves captured on a wildlife camera.

    Read the abstract and get the link to a study that looks at social behavior among canids worldwide: Benson, J., D. Keiter, P. Mahoney, B. Allen, L. Allen, B. L. Borg,… K. Joly, … M. Sorum, et al. 2024. Intrinsic and environmental drivers of pairwise cohesion in wild Canis social groups. Ecology: e4492.

  • Influences on caribou foraging dynamics

    • Locations: Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
    • Offices: Central Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
    A group of caribou foraging in subarctic alpine.

    Read a summary and get the link to an article about caribou foraging: Ehlers, L., E. Palm, J. Herriges, T. Bentzen, M. Suitor, K. Joly, J. Millspaugh, P. Donnelly, J. Gross, J. Wells, B. Larue, and M. Hebblewhite. 2024. A taste of space: Remote animal observations and discrete-choice models provide new insights into foraging and density dynamics for a large subarctic herbivore. Journal of Animal Ecology 93(7): 891-905.

  • Some bears ride the green wave

    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Yellowstone National Park
    • Offices: Arctic Inventory & Monitoring Network
    Two Alaska brown bears in the grass.

    Read the abstract and get the link to an article that looks at whether or not brown bears (grizzly bears) follow the "green wave" of green up: Bowersock, N. R., L. M. Ciarniello, W. W. Deacy, D. C. Heard, K. Joly, C. T. Lamb, W. B. Leacock, B. N. McLellan, G. Mowat, M. S. Sorum, F. T. van Manen, and J. A. Merkle. 2023. A test of the green wave hypothesis in omnivorous brown bears across North America. Ecography :e06549.

  • Arctic and Subarctic Bears' Exposure to Toxins

    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
    A bear eating salmon in the river

    Read a summary of findings and get the link to an article looking at contaminants in brown bears: Fuchs, B., K. Joly, G. V. Hilderbrand, A. L. Evans, I. Rodushkin, L. S. Mangipane, B. A. Mangipane, D. D. Gustine, A. Zedrosser, L. Brown, and J. M. Arnemo. 2023.Toxic elements in arctic and sub-arctic brown bears: Blood concentrations of As, Cd, Hg and Pb in relation to diet, age, and human footprint. Environmental Research 229: 115952.

  • Parasites in Alaska Brown Bears

    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
    An Alaskan brown bear.

    Read a summary and link to a journal article on the parasites found in Alaska brown bears: Haynes, E., S. Coker, M. J. Yabsley, K. D. Niedrighaus, A. M. Ramey, G. G. Verocai, G. V. Hilderbrand, K. Joly, D. D. Gustine, B. Mangipane, W. B. Leacock, A. P. Crupi, and C. A. Cleveland. 2023. Survey for selected parasites in Alaska brown bears (Ursus arctos). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 59 (1): 186-191. DOI: 10.7589/JWD-D-22-00070.

  • Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve

    A surprising number of bears congregate at Arctic salmon streams

    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve
    A bear hair snare.

    Read a summary and get the link to a peer-reviewed journal article that quantifies the number of bears using an Arctic salmon stream. Surprisingly, it is as densely fished as coastal streams with moderate fish runs. Sorum, M. S., M. D. Cameron, A. Crupi, G. K. Sage, S. L. Talbot, G. V. Hilderbrand, and K. Joly. 2023. Pronounced brown bear aggregation along anadromous streams in interior Alaska. Wildlife Biology e01057.

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Last updated: April 19, 2022

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