Animals in Alaska
Wildlife in Alaska
Alaska is by far the largest state in the country, more than twice the size of Texas, yet only about 740,000 people live there, many of them in and around Anchorage. Much of the state has no roads at all, and many towns can only be reached by plane or boat. Its coastline is longer than that of all the other states combined, and its mountains hold Denali, which rises to 6,190 meters, the highest peak in North America. The climate goes from mild and very wet in the southeast, where the Tongass is the largest national forest in the country, to the interior, where summer days can pass 27°C and winter nights can fall below minus 40°C, and to the Arctic, where the sun does not set for weeks in summer and does not rise for weeks in winter. Its landscapes include temperate rainforest, glaciers and fjords, spruce forest, wide river valleys, volcanic islands and treeless tundra.
The land shaped the way Alaskans live. Alaska Native peoples have lived from hunting, fishing and gathering for thousands of years, and many families still do. The United States bought the territory from Russia in 1867, and it became a state in 1959. Commercial fishing and oil from the North Slope now drive the economy. Conservation came on a huge scale: in 1980 a single law protected more than 40 million hectares, Alaska now has the largest national parks in the country, and Glacier Bay is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared with Canada.
Most visitors arrive in summer, many of them on cruise ships through the Inside Passage. They fly over glaciers, ride the train to Denali, go fishing in clear rivers and watch bears feed at the falls of Katmai, while winter brings travelers to Fairbanks to see the northern lights. Wildlife follows these contrasts: whales and sea lions in the coastal waters, bears and moose in the forests and river valleys, and caribou herds crossing the Arctic tundra.
Most Dangerous Animals in Alaska
In Alaska, wild animals are part of daily life, so knowing how to act around them matters. Bears get the most attention. They live in almost every part of the state, and most attacks happen when a bear is surprised at close range or is defending cubs or food. Make noise on trails, hike in groups, store food in bear proof containers and carry bear spray where you can reach it quickly. On the Arctic coast, the bears that hunt on the sea ice are different: they may see people as prey, so travel there should only be done with local guides.
Moose are the animals that hurt the most people. State wildlife officials note that moose injure more Alaskans each year than bears do, often when a mother is protecting her calf in spring or when a bull is stressed during the fall rut or by deep winter snow. Give moose a wide berth, and if one lowers its head or raises the hair on its back, back away. They are also a serious danger on the roads at night.
Wolves rarely threaten people, though a few attacks have been recorded. Bison can charge if approached, and walruses are dangerous on land and in the water, which is why visits to the beaches where they rest follow strict rules. Most problems with wildlife in Alaska come down to the same rule: keep your distance and never let animals get your food.
Top 10 Animals in Alaska
Alaska's most famous animals are easier to see than many people expect, as long as you go to the right place at the right time. For bears, Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park is the classic spot: in July and again in September, grizzly bears stand at the falls and catch jumping salmon a short walk from the viewing platforms. American black bear is common in Southeast Alaska, especially near salmon streams around Ketchikan and Juneau. The polar bear is the hardest to reach, but in September and early October bears gather near the village of Kaktovik on the Arctic coast, where local guides run small boat trips.
Moose is often seen along roads and even in Anchorage neighborhoods, and Denali National Park gives good chances to spot moose, gray wolf and grizzly bear from the park road. Canada lynx and wolverine are shy and seldom seen, though winter tracks in the snow show how widely they roam. Reindeer herds graze near Nome on the Seward Peninsula. For orca, the best bets are boat tours from Seward into Kenai Fjords National Park and trips through the Inside Passage in summer. The bald eagle is everywhere along the coast, and the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines draws visitors each November when the birds feed on a late salmon run.
Gray Wolf
Canis lupus
Alaska is home to one of the largest and healthiest gray wolf populations in North America, estimated at around 7,000 to 11,000 individuals. Wolves here roam vast stretches of boreal forest, tundra, and mountain terrain, hunting caribou, moose, and Dall sheep. Alaska's relatively low human density has allowed wolves to persist without the severe conflicts seen elsewhere. The species is managed as a game animal in the state and is not federally listed as endangered here.
Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes
In Alaska, the red fox is native and lives across most of the state, in boreal forest, tundra, mountains and along the coasts, and silver and cross foxes are common. In the north and west it shares the tundra with the smaller arctic fox, which it often pushes out. Its mousing pounce onto voles hidden under the snow is a classic winter sight. Foxes in Alaska can carry arctic rabies. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Reindeer
Rangifer tarandus
Alaska is caribou country, with more than 30 herds. The Western Arctic Herd, once about 490,000 strong in 2003, fell to around 121,000 in the latest count, and the Porcupine Herd, shared with Canada's Yukon, migrates to calving grounds on the Arctic coastal plain. Caribou are central to the life of Alaska Native communities, and wolves and grizzly bears follow the herds. Domestic reindeer are herded on the Seward Peninsula. IUCN status: Vulnerable.
Wolverine
Gulo gulo
Alaska supports a large and widespread wolverine population, from the coastal mountains of the south to the Brooks Range and the tundra of the north and west. The state's vast wilderness lets them roam with little disturbance. Wolverines are managed as furbearers and can be trapped and hunted in regulated seasons, and their frost shedding fur is still prized for trimming parka hoods in many Alaska Native communities. IUCN status: Least Concern.
American Bison
Bison bison
Wood bison disappeared from Alaska about a century ago, and in 2015 they returned: about 130 animals raised at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center were released along the Innoko River in western Alaska. The herd has had hard winters but has started breeding in the wild. Alaska also has small herds of plains bison introduced in the twentieth century, near Delta Junction and Copper River. IUCN status: Near Threatened.
Arctic Fox
Vulpes lagopus
The arctic fox is native to Alaska's tundra, from the North Slope and the Seward Peninsula to the Bering Sea coast and the Pribilof Islands, where blue foxes are common. On the Aleutians, Russian traders and fur farmers released foxes on over 450 islands, wiping out seabirds, and since 1949 the refuge has removed them from more than 40 islands, letting the birds return. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Beaver
Castor canadensis
Alaska supports large and healthy beaver populations distributed across its vast river networks, lakes, and boreal wetlands. Beavers are an important part of the Alaskan ecosystem, and their ponds provide critical habitat for salmon, waterfowl, and moose. They are also culturally significant to many Alaska Native communities, who have relied on them for food and fur for generations. Their IUCN status is Least Concern.
Canada Lynx
Lynx canadensis
Alaska supports a healthy and widespread population of Canada lynx, with the species present across much of the state's expansive boreal interior. The Tanana Valley and other forested lowlands provide prime habitat where snowshoe hare densities can be high. As in Canada, lynx numbers in Alaska rise and fall with hare cycles. The state's vast wilderness and relatively intact forest ecosystems offer some of the most secure habitat available to the species. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Coyote
Canis latrans
Coyotes are relatively new to Alaska. They arrived from Canada's Yukon in the early 1900s and spread through the interior, peaking around 1940. Today they are most common on the Kenai Peninsula, in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys and in the Copper River Valley, and they even live on the edges of Anchorage. North of the Yukon River they are rare. They feed mainly on snowshoe hares, voles and carrion. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Grizzly Bear
Ursus arctos horribilis
Alaska holds about 30,000 brown bears and grizzlies, nearly all of those in the United States. Inland bears of Denali and the Brooks Range are called grizzlies, while coastal brown bears grow much larger on salmon. At Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, bears catch leaping salmon in summer and star in the park's online Fat Bear Week every autumn. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Moose
Alces alces
Alaska is home to the Alaska moose, the largest subspecies, with around 200,000 animals. Big bulls can pass 600 kg, and the widest antlers on record, 204.8 cm, came from the Kenai Peninsula in 1958. Moose roam boreal forest, river valleys and tundra edges, and even live in Anchorage, where hundreds spend the winter. The state warns that moose injure more people each year than bears. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Musk Ox
Ovibos moschatus
Musk oxen were hunted out of Alaska in the 1800s. In 1930, 34 animals from Greenland were brought to Fairbanks, and in 1935 and 1936 they were moved to Nunivak Island, where the herd grew so well that it seeded new herds on Nelson Island, the Seward Peninsula and the North Slope. About 4,300 now live in the state, and in northeast Alaska grizzly bears are the main factor holding herds back. In 2022 a man was killed by a musk ox near Nome. IUCN status: Least Concern.
American Black Bear
Ursus americanus
Alaska has black bears in most of its forested land, from the southeast panhandle and southcentral coast to the interior, but not on Kodiak Island or in the treeless far north and west. Around Glacier Bay and in the Tongass lives the glacier bear, a rare bluish gray form. Black bears share many areas with brown bears, and near rivers they also feed on salmon. IUCN status: Least Concern.
River Otter
Lontra canadensis
Alaska has river otters in rivers, lakes and above all along its long coast, where people often call them land otters to tell them apart from sea otters. Coastal otters hunt fish and crabs in the sea, rest in groups on rocky shores and catch spawning salmon in summer. In winter, inland otters keep hunting under the ice. They share these waters with brown bears, bald eagles and beavers. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Elk
Cervus canadensis
Elk are not native to Alaska. In 1929, eight young Roosevelt elk from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington were released on Afognak Island, near Kodiak, and the herd grew and spread to nearby Raspberry Island. These heavy, dark elk live in thick spruce forest, where bears take some of the calves. Other elk were later released in Southeast Alaska. IUCN status: Least Concern.
White Wagtail
Motacilla alba
Western Alaska is the only place in the Americas where the white wagtail breeds. Small numbers of the East Siberian wagtail nest each summer on the Seward Peninsula, around Nome and Wales, and on nearby Bering Strait islands, using cracks in buildings, old machinery and rocky spots near the shore. In late summer they leave to winter in Southeast Asia, a long migration for such a small bird. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus
Alaska is one of the most significant breeding regions for the peregrine falcon in North America. The tundra subspecies, known as tundrius, nests on river bluffs and coastal cliffs across the Alaskan interior and Arctic slope. Populations here collapsed due to DDT contamination during the twentieth century but have since made a strong recovery. After breeding, these birds undertake remarkable long distance migrations south to wintering grounds in Central and South America.
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Alaska has more bald eagles than any other state, often estimated at around 30,000 birds, and the species never became endangered here. Eagles nest along the coasts, islands and rivers, from the Aleutians to the Inside Passage. Every November thousands gather on the Chilkat River near Haines to feed on late salmon, one of the largest gatherings of eagles in the world. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
In Alaska, the golden eagle is a widespread raptor, nesting across the interior and the foothills of the Brooks Range, and especially around Denali National Park, where it hunts ground squirrels, hares and ptarmigan. Most birds from northern and central Alaska migrate south in autumn and return in spring, while a few stay through the winter in the south. Pairs keep the same territory for years and often have several nests. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Gyrfalcon
Falco rusticolus
Alaska is the only part of the United States where the gyrfalcon breeds. It nests on cliff faces in the Brooks Range, the Alaska Range, the Seward Peninsula and the western coastal tundra, relying heavily on willow and rock ptarmigan. Many adults stay near their territories through the winter, while young birds wander more widely, some south toward the coast or into Canada. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Trumpeter Swan
Cygnus buccinator
Alaska holds more Trumpeter Swans than any other state or province, about 22,000 birds in 2015, nesting in the wetlands, river deltas and lakes of the interior and the south. In the 1950s, surveys found several thousand around the Copper River, when the species was thought nearly gone. The birds arrive in spring, raise their young over the summer and fly south to British Columbia and Washington for the winter. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Snowy Owl
Bubo scandiacus
Alaska is the only US state where snowy owls breed. They nest on the coastal tundra of the North Slope and western Alaska, and near Utqiagvik researchers have followed nests and lemming numbers every summer since 1992. In good lemming years pairs raise large broods on low mounds, while in poor years few or none breed. Arctic foxes are the main threat to their eggs and chicks. IUCN status: Vulnerable.
Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Alaska is the main summer feeding ground of North Pacific humpbacks. From about May to September they feed in the inside waters of Southeast Alaska, around Juneau, Glacier Bay and Frederick Sound, where groups work together to trap herring in bubble nets, one of the most famous behaviors of any whale. They are also common in Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords. In winter most travel to Hawaii or Mexico. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Orca
Orcinus orca
Alaska is one of the best places in the world to see orcas. Fish eating residents follow the salmon runs, while transients, also called Bigg's orcas, hunt seals, sea lions and even gray whale calves. Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords, reached by boat from Seward and Whittier, are classic places to meet them in summer, and Southeast Alaska, around Juneau, is another. Some groups declined after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and never recovered. IUCN status: Data Deficient.
Beluga Whale
Delphinapterus leucas
Alaska has five beluga populations. The largest live in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas and in Bristol Bay, while Cook Inlet, near Anchorage, holds a small isolated group of about 330 that is listed as endangered. From the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm they can sometimes be seen from shore, especially in late summer. Alaska Native communities hunt belugas for food under shared management. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Polar Bear
Ursus maritimus
Alaska has two polar bear subpopulations, the Southern Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea. The best place to see them is Kaktovik, on Barter Island, where bears gather in September and October around the remains of bowhead whales hunted by the village, as the sea ice has moved far offshore. The Southern Beaufort bears have declined with shrinking ice. In 2023 a bear killed a woman and a boy in Wales, the first fatal attack in Alaska in over 30 years. IUCN status: Vulnerable.
Walrus
Odobenus rosmarus
Alaska is the heart of the Pacific walrus range in North America. Females and calves follow the ice into the Chukchi Sea in summer, while many males stay in Bristol Bay, at haul outs such as Round Island. As the summer ice has retreated, huge herds have hauled out on land near Point Lay, with about 35,000 in 2014, where stampedes can kill calves. Yupik and Iñupiat communities, such as those of St. Lawrence Island, still depend on walrus for food and ivory. IUCN status: Vulnerable.
Harbor Seal
Phoca vitulina
Alaska has the largest harbor seal population in the United States, spread from Southeast Alaska and the Gulf of Alaska to Bristol Bay and the Aleutians. Many rest on floating ice in front of glaciers, in places like Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm, and a group lives all year in Iliamna Lake, in fresh water. Some colonies of the Gulf of Alaska and Glacier Bay fell sharply after the 1970s, and they are still being studied. IUCN status: Least Concern.
Sea Lion
Otariinae (six living species)
Alaska is the stronghold of the Steller sea lion, the largest sea lion in the world, whose males can pass 1,000 kilograms. It breeds on rocky islands from Southeast Alaska to the Aleutians, and boat tours from Seward into Kenai Fjords often pass its haul outs. The western population, from Prince William Sound to the Aleutians, fell by about 80 percent after the 1970s and is still listed as Endangered in the United States. IUCN status: Near Threatened (Steller sea lion).
Sperm Whale
Physeter macrocephalus
Alaska receives only adult male sperm whales, which leave the warm waters where females live and travel north to feed in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Off Sitka they are seen every summer, and they have learned to follow longline boats and pick black cod off the hooks, a habit researchers and fishers have studied together for years. Females and calves stay far to the south, around Hawaii. IUCN status: Vulnerable.
Sea Otter
Enhydra lutris
Alaska is home to most of the world's sea otters. They float in Kachemak Bay, Resurrection Bay, Prince William Sound and Glacier Bay, where the population grew from almost none in the 1990s to thousands. Otters moved to Southeast Alaska in the 1960s now number in the tens of thousands, while the Aleutians lost most of theirs to killer whales, and the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill killed thousands. IUCN status: Endangered.
Frequently Asked Questions
What animals live in Alaska?
Alaska is home to the grizzly bear, American black bear, polar bear, moose, gray wolf, Canada lynx, wolverine, musk ox, reindeer, beaver and arctic fox. Its skies hold bald eagle, golden eagle and gyrfalcon, and its seas have humpback whale, orca, beluga whale, sperm whale, walrus, sea lion and harbor seal.
What is the state animal of Alaska?
The moose is Alaska's official state land mammal, adopted in 1998. It is a fitting choice: Alaska has one of the largest moose populations in the world, with an estimated 175,000 to 200,000 animals, and moose live in most of the state, from the forests of the Interior to the edges of Anchorage.
Where can you see polar bears in Alaska?
The most reliable place is Kaktovik, a small village on Barter Island along the Arctic coast. From August to October, while the sea ice is far offshore, polar bears gather near town, and September is usually the best month. Getting there takes small planes from Fairbanks, and viewing is done by boat with licensed local guides.
Where is the best place to see bears in Alaska?
Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park is the most famous, with grizzly bears fishing for salmon in July and September. Lake Clark National Park and the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary are other well known spots on the Alaska Peninsula. Denali National Park offers sightings from the park road, and Southeast Alaska is best for American black bear.
What is the most dangerous animal in Alaska?
Bears cause the most serious attacks, and the polar bear is the most likely to treat a person as prey. But the moose injures more people each year, mostly because there are so many of them living near towns and roads. A mother moose with a calf or a stressed bull can charge and kick hard, so it is best to keep well away.
Researched and written by Juan Pablo. Sources: IUCN Red List, scientific literature and regional field guides. Last updated: .