Denali's Animals

While we were on the bus, we were treated to some views of the few animals that live there.  Harsh weather and little vegetations keeps the populations low.  Because of the wilderness designation, the animals are fully monitored.  They aren't hunted so they can be seen and  studied in their natural state of life cycles.

The most astounding thing we saw were two wolves laying by a river bed, on their sides, like dogs sleeping in the sun  Later on, we saw a wolf running through the underbrush by the river.  There are an estimated 100 wolves in the park. They were too far away for us to take pictures.

We also saw several grizzlies.  They are honey colored, and quite a bit smaller than the ones we previously saw.  They live on vegetation, whereas the others live on fish and meat.   We saw a mother and two cubs on a far hill, and closer by was a hiking group of three people.  We watched in fascination as the bears and the people came closer to one another, each unaware of the other.  They were actually quite far apart, but it looked like a disaster in the making.   Estimated bear population is 300-350.  Remember, this park has 6 million acres in it!

We saw Dall sheep, mothers and babies grazing on the cliffs.  The babies will be ready to travel further in a month, but they all stay in this rather protected area while they are young.  We saw them going out and coming back, and this is the picture we got.


And finally, the bus was hailed by a couple of hikers who wanted a ride.  As they got on, they told us they had been watching a large bull moose in the bushes below the road.  I think they were very happy to get on the bus.  John thinks the moose was standing, I think it was on the ground, but nevertheless, he attempted to get a picture of it. There are about 1800 moose in the park.

We finally got back to our campground, tired and dirty, and happy to have seen this vast wilderness and 

privileged to see some of the animals who live here.