Zion National Park Nature & Wildlife

Zion National Park is home to one of nature's ecosystems that includes varied natural occurring plants and animals. In fact, its wildlife varies according to the section of the park, including everything from birds to lizards, and bears to sheep. Though not often seen, most very attentive visitors, especially backpackers or backcountry hikers will notice only a handful of what nature has to offer in this incredible park.

It is sad to think that most people who visit Zion National Park may witness nature in some form, but never really see the entirety of its wildlife, or the rare plants that call it home. There are tours available to interested tourists, who can study or just wander around the park's habitats, seeing what nature has kept secret for so long, and the amazing range of animals it harbors.

Most the park's animals and plants inhabit higher elevations, where the air is cooler and water is more abundant. In fact, there are over seventy eight mammal, two hundred and seventy bird and forty amphibian/reptilian species throughout the area.

The park's mammals include bighorned sheep, black bears, chipmunks, coyote, elk, mountain lions, mule deer, prairie dogs, pronghorns, rabbits, ringtail cats and squirrels. A selection of birds like the water ouzel, chickadees, bald and golden eagles, blue herons, hummingbirds, jays (3 types), nuthatches, peregrine falcons, red-tail hawks, swifts, swallows and buzzards ride the updrafts high above the canyon floors. Reptiles and amphibians such as the canyon tree frog, basin rattlesnake, shorthorned lizard, sagebrush lizard, and the Zion snail slither and crawl amongst the crevices and rocks.

Plant life is also abundant there. Trees in the park have been to be found as old as over two thousand years, including aspen, pine (3 types), cottonwood (similar to a willow), Douglas fir and juniper. Ferns and shrubs dot the landscape – sagebrush, maidenhair fern and yucca. There are even collections of beautiful flowers, the claret cup cactus, the Columbine buttercup, larkspur, the Zion lily, prickly pear cacti, and the sego lily.