8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada: Canada may be most famous for its winters – snow-capped mountains, hot apple cider, and carved slopes. But all-seasons has another major drawcard: the incredible diversity of wildlife found throughout the country. From iconic moose and grizzly bears to quirky companions like beavers and porcupines, there’s no better place than Canada if you enjoy seeing adorable, fascinating, or giant creatures in their natural habitat. You have never seen wildlife in such a sublime setting anywhere else.
Here is our top list of animals you might be lucky enough to have on an adventure around Canada’s best national parks:
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
- Bears
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
Canadian nature reserves – whether at the top of the Rockies, or down in Jasper and Banff National Parks – are renowned for their bear sightings, and these ones certainly draw crowds.
Grizzly Bears, with their shaggy coats and huge paws, can be found roaming around with their families or snacking on wild salmon in the high regions of the Canadian Rockies and around British Columbia and Alberta. Another type of bear you might only catch a glimpse of is the black bear, which lives in various forests and bushes throughout Canada, although it’s a little harder to spot.
- Moose
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
Weighing up to 400 kilograms, the moose is the largest of the deer family, and one of Canada’s best-known mammals. These animals have a noticeable hump on their back, large horns, and a long face like that of a horse; And because of their sheer size, you definitely won’t miss them if they’re around.
Moose are good swimmers, having thick hooves to walk through the ice, so you’ll have a good chance of seeing them year-round from deep in the national parks of Jasper and Banff to the lakes and wetlands around Yoho and Glacier.
- Deer
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
From the striking white-tailed deer, with their white-collar and belly, and reddish-brown coat, to the heavy, hairy elk breed with wide broad antlers, you’ll find deer in the woods and open terrain in the Canadian Rockies, and in Banff and Jasper National Park. The best part? Unless they are scared away, deer and moose are rarely aggressive and make great photo subjects.
- Beaver
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
With their stocky bodies, webbed feet, buck teeth, and slapping tails, beavers are as funny as they are interesting. With over 100 trees cut down every year, the beaver is a busy animal, and a clever maker too. Most active between dusk and dawn, you might be lucky enough to do some bobbing along the river or paddling through wetlands wherever there is water, such as in Banff or Yoho National Park.
- Porcupine
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
A porcupine is a spiky fellow, and with over 30,000 quills sticking out of its body, it’s definitely something you don’t want to poke through. Porcupines use their barbed armor as a defense against predators, and may even remove some quills as they wag their tails at enemies as if they were throwing them. That said, these people are mostly calm by nature, and can be found minding their own business in the woods. So whenever you get the chance to go on a hike or a wilderness adventure, keep your eyes peeled for these cute critters.
- Bison (Buffalo)
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
While there were once tens of millions of bison in North America, you can now see these individuals roaming open areas in national parks, especially after conservationists in Banff reintroduced herds of bison to the area. Bison are distinguished by their rugged coat, large head, horns, and strong stature, which gives them a fierce and fierce appearance.
- Coyotes
8 incredible animals you’ll find in Canada
Across Canada, from forests, the Rocky Mountains, and national parks in Jasper and beyond, they don’t call them ‘Willy Coyotes’; With their slanting, yellow eyes, and cunning nature, these animals are renowned for boisterous and shadowy characters. Smaller than their cousins the wolves, they travel in packs and live in the plains, plains, and deserts of British Columbia, Alberta, and beyond. They have also been seen in urban areas, snatching leftovers from cans or searching for food.
- Great Blue Heron
No list would be complete for our bird-watching friends, and what better bird than a name-dropping Great Blue Heron? This amazing creature has an ‘S’-shaped neck, with brown plumage, a blue crown, pale bill, and long legs. Their features intensify around mating season, and you’ll see them strut their stuff around rivers and wetlands in British Columbia’s national parks throughout the year.
Grab your camera!
Whether it’s deer scurrying through forests, otters bustling about their dam-building business, or bears roaming downstairs, you’ll want to keep your camera close by. In all of Canada’s exceptional national parks, there is no shortage of wildlife to see and admire, from the Rockies to Banff, to Glacier and Yoho.
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