Welcome to the “Heart of the Canadian Rockies.” The lower Athabasca valley in Jasper National Park is not only where people have been finding life’s little essentials (food, water and shelter) for the last 9000 years, it is also where the park’s plants and wildlife find all that stuff too.
The great diversity of habitats (coniferous forests, deciduous forests, mixed forest, willow meadows and grasslands, rivers, lakes, wetlands and flood plains and don’t forget sand dunes) provide home for many creatures both great and small.
All this variety of life (a.k.a. biodiversity) means that the lower Athabasca valley is well deserving of the title “Heart of the Canadian Rockies.”
With a little bit of luck and the gift of patience, you should easily be able to complete this mega fauna wildlife checklist while travelling between this sign and the eastern park gate on highway 16.
Elk (Cervus elaphus)
Moose (Alces alces)
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
White tail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Bighorn sheep (Ovis Canadensis)
Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus)
Black bear (Ursus americanus)
Coyote (Canis latrans)
And that doesn’t include all the smaller critters and birds you can see along the way.
Of course... with great wildlife comes great responsibility.
Please drive carefully, respect the speed limits and stay in your vehicle when wildlife is encountered.
Help keep the WILD in wildlife.