Animals & Plants of Denali National Park and Preserve
The 6 animals, plants, and fungi you can find at Denali National Park and Preserve, with sizes, diets, and whether you should worry. See the full park guide at Denali National Park and Preserve.
Anything here that bites?
Keep away
- Dall sheep: Dall sheep are shy and would rather climb than fight, but they are wild and a ram's horns are heavy.
- Gray wolf: Wild wolves almost never bother people.
- Grizzly bear: A grizzly is one of the few animals you must give real room.
- Moose: A moose looks slow and gentle, but it is one of the most dangerous animals to crowd.
Bites if handled
- Golden eagle: A golden eagle will not come after a person.
Everything else on this page is harmless. What each group means.
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Mammal Dall sheep
Ovis dalli
A snowy-white wild sheep of Alaska's steepest ridges, where ewes raise lambs on cliffs and rams carry horns that curl a full circle.
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Bird Golden eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
A dark brown eagle with golden neck feathers that hunts rabbits and hares across open country, nesting on cliffs in Denali, Death Valley, and Great Basin.
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Mammal Gray wolf
Canis lupus
The biggest wild dog in North America, a pack hunter you might hear howling at dawn in Yellowstone, Denali, or Isle Royale.
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Mammal Grizzly bear
Ursus arctos horribilis
A big brown bear of the northern Rockies and Alaska, marked by a hump of muscle over its shoulders and long digging claws.
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Mammal Moose
Alces alces
The largest deer in the world, a long-legged giant you might see wading in ponds at Grand Teton, Isle Royale, Denali, or Rocky Mountain.
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Fungus Reindeer lichen
Cladonia rangiferina
A pale, spongy, branching lichen that carpets northern ground. It is a fungus and an alga living as one body, and it is winter food for caribou.