The Animals of Yellowstone National Park

The Animals of Yellowstone National Park
An Expert Studies Report by Heidi Franz

Animals have lived in Yellowstone for thousands of years. Even now, they continue to mesmerize people who come to the park. I am one of those people. Last summer, my family took a road trip to Yellowstone, and we couldn’t believe the animals we saw. Bison, elk, mule deer, and even a hint of a black bear! These are just some of the animals that I am going to talk about.

Bison

Let’s start with the biggest animal in all of Yellowstone—the bison. This amazing animal is strictly vegetarian, cowing down grasses from the foothills and meadows. Bulls, also known as males, weigh about 1,800 pounds! That’s about half a ton! Females, the cows, weigh up to 1,000 pounds. When defending their young, or when humans getting to close, these heavy animals can run at surprising speed. Breeding season is from mid July to mid August. A cow bears one calf in April or May. They can have twins, but this is very rare.

Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states where a population of wild bison has existed since prehistoric times. However, less than 50 wild bison lived in the park in 1902. Fearing extinction, the park service imported 21 bison to increase the population. With protection from poaching and predator control, the population increased. In 1954, bison numbers reached 1,477, and by 1996, the bison population counted 3,000. Bison were back on board.

Elk

Elk are the second largest animal in the deer family, moose being the largest. There has been evidence of elk living in Yellowstone for more than 1,000 years! When the park was first created in 1872, lots of elk were slaughtered or hunted. Until 1886, when the U.S. Military came, the slaughter was brought to control, and the elk population increased. About 30,000 elk summer in Yellowstone, and about 15,000-22,000 winter in the park.
Bulls’ antlers start to grow when they turn one year old. When they become mature adults, the antlers can have 6 to 8 points, and weigh up to 30 pounds!
The antlers are usually shed in March or April, and begin to grow back in mid May. Bulls may gather as many as 20-30 cows into his herd, often locking up or clashing antlers with another bull for the females. By November, mating season is over and elk just go back to their winter ranges. A calf may be born in late May or June, weighing 25 to 45 pounds.

Wolves

Thanks to a very successful program, wolves are back on board in Yellowstone for an absence of almost 70 years! Several dozen wolves were captured in Canada and released in Yellowstone in January, 1995. Those wolves have been doing very well adapting to Yellowstone’s different areas. They have increased their numbers by a massive rate.

Wolves are scattered around the different areas of Yellowstone. They prey on moose, sheep, deer, rodents, and even coyotes! Both male and female weigh about 100 to 140 pounds. They breed in winter between January and April, and the female can have 1 to 11 pups at a time. They live in a den until they are 2 months old.

Moose

Moose are the largest member of the deer family. It was reported very rare in Yellowstone when it was first created in 1872. Numbers counted less than 1,000 moose in 1980, and that got even worse when the fires of 1988 hit Yellowstone. But control over poaching, and wolves, helped to increase the population. Moose depend on the winter bark from trees in the winter. This need of theirs is one reason why natural forest fires are left to burn to the ground. Fires that are burned out right away leave dead standing trees with no bark to eat. The remaining dead trees also stop new trees from growing up. The population of moose in Yellowstone now, is estimated at about 8,000. Moose breed from September to November. The female may bear two to three calves in May or June. Calves weigh 25-30 pounds at birth, and adult females weigh about 800 pounds, and males weigh 1,300 pounds.

There are many many more animals in Yellowstone National Park, but if I did talk about all of them, you would be reading this from dawn to dusk! I certainly learned a ton about the animals of Yellowstone and ways we could help them to keep their populations going. You can help by raising money for the organizations that help the animals, or making a report yourself like I did! Thank you!