Animals of Alaska: Bears, Moose, Whales and Where to See Them

Alaska’s wildlife at a glance

Population figures are estimates from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and change with weather, food and disease.

Brown bears and grizzlies

Brown bears live almost everywhere in Alaska except a few island groups. Inland bears are usually called grizzlies, while coastal bears that feast on salmon grow much larger; they are the same species (see is a grizzly a brown bear?). Big coastal males can weigh up to about 680 kg (1,500 lb) in autumn, while inland grizzlies are often half that size.

The Kodiak bear, a subspecies isolated on the Kodiak Archipelago since the last Ice Age, rivals the polar bear as the largest bear in the world. About 3,500 Kodiak bears live on the islands. Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park is the classic viewing site: in July, when the sockeye salmon run peaks, more than 20 bears may fish at the falls at once, and platforms let visitors watch them safely. A second gathering happens in September. Our brown bear profile covers the species worldwide.

Black bears and glacier bears

Alaska has an estimated 100,000 black bears, living in forested areas across most of the state but absent from the treeless Arctic and western tundra. They are smaller than brown bears, with a straighter face profile and no shoulder hump. Not all of them are black: cinnamon-brown bears are common in the Interior, and a rare bluish-gray color form called the glacier bear lives around Yakutat and other parts of Southeast Alaska.

Good viewing sites include the Mendenhall Glacier area near Juneau and the Anan Wildlife Observatory near Wrangell, where black and brown bears fish for pink salmon in July and August.

Polar bears

Polar bears live along Alaska’s northern and western coasts, in two populations shared with Canada and Russia: the Southern Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea populations. They spend most of the year hunting seals on the sea ice. As summer ice retreats farther from shore, more bears are stranded on land for longer periods.

The village of Kaktovik on Barter Island is the best-known place to see them, in September and October, when bears wait on the coast for the sea to freeze. Polar bears are listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act and as Vulnerable by the IUCN, mainly because of the loss of sea ice.

Moose

The moose is Alaska’s official state land mammal. Alaska moose belong to the largest subspecies: bulls can stand more than 2.1 m (7 ft) at the shoulder and weigh over 635 kg (1,400 lb), with antlers spreading up to about 1.8 m (6 ft). About 175,000–200,000 moose live in Alaska, from the southeastern forests to the edge of the Arctic tundra.

Moose often wander through Anchorage and other towns, especially in winter, when deep snow pushes them into lowland neighborhoods. They feed on willow, birch and aspen twigs, and on water plants in summer. Calves are born in May and June. See our moose profile for more.

Caribou, Dall sheep and wolves

Caribou, the North American name for reindeer, are the most numerous large mammals in Alaska. Herds such as the Western Arctic and Porcupine herds travel hundreds of kilometers each way between calving grounds on the Arctic coastal plain and their winter ranges, among the longest land migrations on Earth. Both males and females grow antlers.

Dall sheep are pure white wild sheep of the high mountains. Rams weigh about 70–80 kg (160–180 lb) and carry thick, curling horns, which they clash in head-on contests. Denali National Park was created in 1917 partly to protect them, and they are often seen on cliffs beside the Seward Highway south of Anchorage.

Alaska is home to an estimated 7,000–11,000 gray wolves, more than any other US state. They live in packs across about 85% of the state. Denali is the best place to have a chance of seeing one, usually at a distance from the park road.

Musk oxen, shaggy Ice Age survivors, disappeared from Alaska by the 1920s. In 1930, 34 animals from East Greenland were brought to the state, and all of Alaska’s musk oxen today descend from them. They are now seen around Nome and on Nunivak Island.

Marine mammals: sea otters, whales and sea lions

Sea otters were hunted almost to extinction for their fur between the 18th and early 20th centuries, when only about 1,000–2,000 survived worldwide. Protection since 1911 has allowed them to return to much of the Alaskan coast, although numbers in southwest Alaska fell again and that population is listed as threatened. Sea otters have the densest fur of any animal and float on their backs to eat crabs, clams and sea urchins. Look for them in Prince William Sound, Resurrection Bay at Seward and Kachemak Bay. Our sea otter profile explains how they stay warm without blubber.

Humpback whales arrive each spring, many after swimming about 4,800 km (3,000 mi) from Hawaii, to feed on krill and small fish through the summer. In Southeast Alaska, groups cooperate in bubble-net feeding, blowing a ring of bubbles to trap fish before lunging up through the middle. Juneau, Glacier Bay and Kenai Fjords are the classic whale-watching areas.

Orcas are also common, both fish-eating groups and mammal-hunting groups. Steller sea lions haul out on rocky islands in the Gulf of Alaska, and gray whales pass Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula on their spring migration. A small, endangered population of beluga whales lives in Cook Inlet near Anchorage.

Birds: bald eagles, puffins and ptarmigan

Alaska has more bald eagles than any other state. They nest in tall spruce and hemlock trees along the coasts and rivers and gather wherever salmon spawn. Each autumn, more than 3,000 bald eagles can gather along the Chilkat River near Haines to feed on a late run of chum salmon in a stretch of river that warm upwelling water keeps free of ice. The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve protects this gathering, which peaks in November. Read more in our bald eagle profile.

Tufted and horned puffins nest on rocky islands and cliffs from Southeast Alaska to the Bering Sea and are easy to see on boat tours from Seward between May and August. The Pribilof Islands host huge seabird colonies. The state bird, the willow ptarmigan, is a grouse that turns white in winter, while millions of shorebirds, geese and cranes arrive each spring to breed on the tundra and in coastal wetlands.

Where and when to see wildlife in Alaska

• Denali National Park: grizzlies, caribou, moose, Dall sheep and sometimes wolves, seen from park buses on the road into the park, June to mid-September.
• Katmai National Park: brown bears at Brooks Falls, mainly in July and September.
• Kenai Fjords National Park and Seward: humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, Steller sea lions and puffins on boat tours, May to September.
• Glacier Bay and Juneau: humpback whales, bald eagles and black bears, May to September.
• Haines: the November gathering of bald eagles along the Chilkat River.
• Anchorage and the Seward Highway: moose year-round, Dall sheep on the cliffs, and beluga whales in Turnagain Arm in late summer.
• Kaktovik: polar bears in September and October, usually with licensed local guides.

Wildlife viewing safety in Alaska

Alaska’s large animals are wild and can be dangerous if people get too close. In Denali, visitors must stay at least 300 yards (275 m) from bears and 25 yards (23 m) from all other wildlife. Federal rules require boats to stay at least 100 yards (91 m) from humpback whales in Alaskan waters.

• Never approach, follow or feed wildlife, and use binoculars or a telephoto lens instead.
• Make noise on trails so bears hear you coming, especially in thick brush and near streams.
• Store food and garbage securely so bears and other animals never learn to link people with food.
• Give moose a wide berth, especially cows with calves and bulls in the autumn rut.
• In an emergency, call 911.