Large and charismatic mammals are important for wildlife tourism in Canada and several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries cater to these needs. Visitors can see some mighty creatures during their canada-visit. Whales, polar bears and the goofy, twig-eating moose are wildlife-watching favorites. The vast and huge land offers stunning wilderness and natural experiences.
In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to Canada's wildlife; in response National Wildlife Areas (NWAs) are set aside under the Canada Wildlife Act. There are National Parks, National Wildlife Areas, as well as Migratory Bird Sanctuaries. National parks protect natural regions in Canada. NWAs conserve habitats for species at risk. Migratory bird sanctuaries protect the breeding grounds of migratory birds during the nesting season.
Bobcat, brown bat, Canada Lynx, reindeer (caribou), coyote, grizzly bears, Gray Wolf, red fox, lemming, meadow mice, moose, mountain lion, mule deer, musk ox, muskrat, polar bear, porcupine, prairie dog, pronghorn, raccoon, pinniped (seal), skunk, snowshoe hare, walrus, wapiti, weasel, whale, white tailed deer, wolverine. To name a few of the birds identified with Canada would be the American Robin, Bicknell's Thrush, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Burrowing Owl, Canada Goose, Canvasback, Downy Woodpecker, Gray Jay, Great Blue Heron, Great Horned Owl, Greater Snow Goose, Killdeer, Loons, Piping Plover, Purple Martin, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Whooping Crane.
No other animal has shaped the history of Canada more than the beaver, whose coveted pelt brought the first permanent European settlers to these shores. North America’s largest rodent has a beefy body, webbed hind feet and a long, muscular tail that serves as a rudder when swimming. The axiom ‘busy as a beaver’ is well justified: skilled loggers and engineers, they each cut down up to 200 trees per year and build elaborate ‘lodges, ’ dams and canals. They live in forests throughout the country and are most active between dusk and dawn. If you’re lucky, you might spot one paddling across a stream or lake with its head just above the water.
The porcupine is Canada’s second-largest rodent. This curious, slow-moving animal is covered in up to 30, 000 quills, which form a formidable defense mechanism. When under threat, the porcupine vigorously lashes its tail, thereby dislodging loose quills as if throwing them. It feeds mainly on bark and tree buds, and used to be a staple of the Aboriginal diet. The quills are sometimes used in aboriginal decorative work.
The white-tailed deer can be found anywhere from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia to the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. Its bigger relative, the caribou, is unusual in that both males and females sport enormous antlers. Barren-ground caribou, which feed on lichen and spend most of the year on the tundra from Baffin Island to Alaska, are the most common. Some Inuit hunt caribou for hides and food, and it occasionally shows up on menus as far south as Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.
One of the biggest deer species is the elk (wapiti), a formidable creature whose ‘bugling’ roars can scare the bejeezus out of you. Their relatively small herds roam around western Canada, especially the Kootenays and Vancouver Island in BC, although quite a few also hang out in the national parks of Banff and Jasper, and Waterton Lakes, Riding Mountain and Prince Albert.
Still more humungous is the moose, whose skinny, ballerina-like legs support a hulking body with a distinctive shovel-like snout. Males grow a spectacular rack of antlers every summer, only to discard it in November. You’ll spot moose foraging near lakes, muskegs and streams as well as in the forests of the western mountain ranges in the Rockies and the Yukon. Newfoundland has grown a huge moose population since they were first introduced there in the early 1900s.
Neither moose nor elk are generally aggressive, and they will often generously pose for photographs. They can be unpredictable, though, so don’t startle them. During mating season (September), the males can become belligerent.
The huge, heavy-shouldered, shaggy bison (buffalo) that once roamed the prairies in vast herds now exists only in parks. It is said that there were once as many as 70 million bison in North America. Their herds would often take days to pass by a single point. Their 19th-century slaughter – often by chartered trainloads of ‘sportsmen’ who left the carcasses to rot – is one of the great tragedies of the North American west, affecting the very survival of Aboriginal peoples. To check out the largest herd of bison, take a trip to Wood Buffalo National Park, close to the Alberta–Northwest Territories border. Smaller herds roam the national parks of Waterton Lakes and Elk Island in Alberta, Prince Albert in Saskatchewan and Riding Mountain in Manitoba.
If you’re lucky enough to spot a bear in the wild, it’ll most likely be a black bear. (Keep your distance, though.) About half a million of these furry critters patrol the forests and bushland just about everywhere except Prince Edward Island, southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan.
Ursus arctos horribilis, better known as the grizzly bear, makes its home on the higher slopes of the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Alberta and the Yukon. It stands up to a fearsome 3m tall and has a distinctive hump between its shoulders. Grizzlies are solitary animals with no natural enemies except humans. Although they enjoy an occasional snack of elk, moose or caribou, they usually fill their bellies with berries and other vegetation.
The fiercest member of the bear family, the polar bear, weighs less than 1kg at birth but grows to be as heavy as a Volkswagen (up to 800kg). Pretty much the only place to observe them is from late September to early November in Churchill, Manitoba, one of their major maternity denning grounds.
Another formidable predator is the wolf, which can be every bit as fierce and cunning as is portrayed in fairy tales, although it rarely attack humans. Wolves hunt in packs and aren’t afraid to take on animals much larger than themselves, including moose and bison. They’re still fairly common in sparsely populated areas between Labrador and the Yukon. If you’re out in the bush, you may hear them howling at the moon.
Canadian skies are home to 462 bird species, with BC and Ontario boasting the greatest diversity. The most famous feathered resident is the common loon, Canada’s national bird. It’s a waterbird whose mournful yet beautiful call often rings out across quiet backcountry lakes early or late in the day. The great blue heron, one of the country’s largest birds, is a timid fellow that’s an amazing sight on take-off.
There is only one creature in the water that fears no enemy other than humans: the killer whale (orca), so named because its diet includes seals, belugas and other whales. Their aerodynamic bodies, signature black-and-white coloration and incredible speed (up to 40km/h) make them the Ferraris of the aquatic world. They’re most commonly seen around Vancouver Island and along the Inside Passage to Alaska.
Other whale species frolic in eastern waters, such as around the Fundy Isles in New Brunswick, the tip of Digby Neck and the north shore of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and in Witless Bay in Newfoundland. Belugas are the smallest, typically measuring no more than 4.5m and weighing about one ton. They are chatty fellows who squeak, groan and peep while traveling in closely knit family pods. Blue whales are the planet’s largest animals, reaching up to 27m in length and weighing as much as 30 elephants. Each one chows down about 40 tons of krill per day. Finbacks aren’t much smaller; they’re easily identified by the asymmetrical coloring of the lower jaw – white or yellowish on the right side and black on the left side. Humpbacks average 15m and typically weigh 30 tons.
Polar bears are found in Russia, Denmark (Greenland), the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Canada and Alaska; Audley operate trips to all of these places.
They are the largest land predators in the world, preying mainly on seals although they will eat any animal they can catch, including humans.
Natives of Arctic Canada, Greenland and Alaska, Musk Oxen are noted for their thick shaggy coats, long curved horns and for the strong odour emitted by the males. These sociable animals usually live in herds of between 10 to 20 animals but sometimes the herd can number several hundred, while their thick coats enable them to survive bitterly cold winter temperatures.
Canada has some of the most varied and exciting whale watching opportunities anywhere in the world.
In Alaska and on the west coast of British Columbia orcas, minke, grey and humpback whales predominate whilst Québec’s Saguenay Fjord and the Hudson Bay see thousands of beluga whales during the summer months.
Boggy woodland and wetland regions are perfect moose habitat and dawn and dusk are the best times of the day to spot them. Some of the best places to encounter moose are New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Algonquin Provincial Park and Alberta’s Banff and Jasper National Parks. In Alaska they are particularly abundant in Denali National Park and the Kenai Peninsula.
The American Black Bear is the most common bear species living throughout the continent and in all Canadian provinces and territories apart from Prince Edward Island. These bears can be up to seven feet tall and males weigh between 115 and 365 kg (250 and 800 pounds) The adults have small eyes, rounded ears, a long snout, a large body, and a short tail and they have an excellent sense of smell.
The caribou, one of Canada's most recognized national symbols, is experiencing dramatic population declines.
To see a family of caribou in their tundra home is an impressive sight. A journey to the north is bound to bring you close to these magnificent animals and will surely be a highlight of your trip.
Due to their vast size Canada, Alaska and the Arctic have an incredible variety of bird species, both resident and migratory. Alaska and western British Columbia are renowned for huge populations of bald eagles whilst the cliffs of the Maritime Provinces echo to the enthralling cacophony of shrieks and calls of some of the world’s largest seabird colonies, providing ideal nesting conditions for thousands of kittiwakes, murres and razorbills.
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