Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton Lakes - Wildlife

Text and Photography © 1995-97 John Marriott

In Waterton Lakes National Park, your best bets for seeing, watching and photographing wildlife are in and around the Waterton townsite, and along the park Entrance Road, the Akamina Parkway and the Red Rock Parkway. Early morning or late evening are best, and the slow seasons for visitors (the fall and spring) tend to be the best times of the year to see animals.

Following is an introduction to the large mammals that call Waterton Lakes home.

Elk/Wapiti

Waterton has a healthy elk population that tends to frequent the low-lying prairie sections more than the mountainous areas of the park. The Entrance Road and the Chief Mountain Highway are both good venues for seeing and photographing elk.

For the best viewing opportunities, visit the park in the spring and watch for large cow herds out on the prairie meadows along the Entrance Road and Highway 6.

Moose

Moose are found throughout Waterton Lakes National Park, but are not abundant in any one area. Watch along the Akamina Parkway and in the Cameron Lakes area, or along the meadows and ponds found on Chief Mountain Highway. Cows and calves often frequent the Red Rock Parkway in the spring, while bulls are occasionally seen along the Chief Mountain Highway in late autumn.

Deer

Waterton Lakes is home to healthy populations of both whitetail and mule deer, with mule deer in particular being abundant throughout the park. The Waterton area is renowned for its spectacular photographic opportunities, and the large mule bucks that cruise the park environs in late summer and fall are often very photogenic. Try the townsite area, the start of the Red Rock Parkway, and the Entrance Road for mulies, and the Chief Mountain Highway for whitetails. The mule deer are larger and have a black tip on the end of their tail in contrast to the smaller, more slender whitetails who have a white underside to their tail.

Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn sheep are abundant throughout the park, and are most commonly seen in the townsite, or along either the Red Rock Parkway or the Akamina Parkway. Large rams are often seen along the Akamina Parkway in spring and summer, while rams, ewes and even lambs can be observed on many of the hikes leading into high alpine meadows. In the fall, watch for bighorns in the prairie portions of the park.

Mountain Goat

These mountain antelopes can be spotted high on cliffs and crags in the south end of Waterton Lakes National Park, but are rarely seen along the roadsides. Neighbouring Glacier National Park harbours a much larger mountain goat population with several excellent viewing sites at the south end of the park and at the summit of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Coyote

Coyotes are widespread in Waterton, particularly in the prairie areas with wide open meadows interspersed with brushy gullies and draws. The Entrance Road, Highway 6 near the park gates, and the Red Rock Parkway are all excellent places for viewing and photographing coyotes year-round, and visitors travelling through the park in the spring may be fortunate enough to observe coyote pups.

Waterton Lakes National Park supports a large, healthy population of mountain lions. The area is one of the most likely spots in Alberta to sight these big cats, however, because of the cougar's nocturnal habits and secretive nature, sightings are still rare. Waterton's cougars prey upon the area's abundant deer, bighorn sheep and elk populations. Sightings and cat tracks are most commonly on the Entrance Road, in and around the townsite, and off the Red Rock Parkway and the Akamina Parkway.

Black bears are common in Waterton, and can be spotted just about anywhere in the park. Watch for them on all of the park's roads and trails, particularly around the townsite.

Black bears in Waterton Lakes come in a variety of colours, including black, brown and cream, and eat everything from ants to dandelions to buffalo berries. They go into hibernation in early November and usually don't emerge from their slumber until April.

Much of Waterton Lakes National Park is roamed by grizzly bears, although the population is considered to be unstable due to human pressures from resource extraction, development and recreational use. Waterton's grizzlies are also Glacier's grizzlies, as many of the park's bears roam back and forth between Waterton and Glacier National Park.

Grizzlies can be distinguished from black bears by the large hump of muscle on their shoulders and from the shape of their face: grizzlies have very broad round faces, while black bears have narrow roman profiles much like a dog's face. Watch for grizzlies at the end of Cameron Lake, and on any of the park's roads and trails in spring and fall.

Small Mammals and Birds