Editing Grand Teton National Park (section)

=== Fauna ===
{{See also|Mammals of Grand Teton National Park}}

Sixty-one species of mammals have been recorded in Grand Teton National Park.<ref name=habitat/> This includes the [[gray wolf]], which had been extirpated from the region by the early 1900s but migrated into the Grand Teton National Park from adjacent Yellowstone National Park after the species had been reintroduced there.<ref>{{Cite web |last=River |date=2023-02-16 |title=Horsetail Creek wolf pack spotted in Jackson Hole |url=https://buckrail.com/horsetail-creek-wolves-spotted-in-jackson-hole/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=Buckrail - Jackson Hole, news |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Taylor|first=Jonathan|title=Public Acceptance of Management Actions and Judgments of Responsibility for the Wolves of the Southern Greater Yellowstone Area: Report to Grand Teton National Park|url=http://www.fort.usgs.gov/products/publications/21531/21531.pdf|publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior|access-date=April 29, 2012|author2=Shea Johnson|author3=Lori Shelby|year=2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327001954/http://www.fort.usgs.gov/products/publications/21531/21531.pdf|archive-date=March 27, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The re-establishment of the wolves has ensured that every indigenous mammal species now exists in the park.<ref name=fuller>{{cite magazine|last=Fuller|first=Alexandra|title=Yellowstone and the Tetons|url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/yellowstone-tetons/|magazine=National Geographic|access-date=April 29, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422174209/http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/yellowstone-tetons/|archive-date=April 22, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In addition to gray wolves, another 17 species of [[carnivora]]ns reside within Grand Teton National Park including grizzlies and the more commonly seen [[American black bear]]. Relatively common sightings of [[coyote]], [[North American river otter|river otter]], [[American marten|marten]] and [[American badger|badger]] and occasional sightings of [[North American cougar|cougar]], [[Canada lynx|lynx]] and [[wolverine]] are reported annually.<ref name=habitat/> A number of rodent species exist including [[yellow-bellied marmot]], [[least chipmunk]], [[muskrat]], [[North American beaver|beaver]], [[Uinta ground squirrel]], [[American pika|pika]], [[snowshoe hare]], [[North American porcupine|porcupine]], and six species of bats.<ref name=habitat/>

Of the larger mammals, the most common are elk, which exist in the thousands.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elk Ecology and Management|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/upload/elk_11.pdf|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=April 29, 2012|date=January 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904003441/http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/upload/elk_11.pdf|archive-date=September 4, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>  Their migration route between the National Elk Refuge and Yellowstone National Park is through Grand Teton National Park, so while easily seen anytime of the year, they are most numerous in the spring and fall. Other [[ungulate]]s in the park include moose, [[American bison|bison]], and [[pronghorn]]—the fastest land mammal in the western hemisphere.  The park's [[moose]] tend to stay near waterways and wetlands.<ref name=habitat/> Between 100 and 125 bighorn sheep dwell in the alpine and rocky zones of the peaks.<ref name=habitat/><ref>{{cite book|title=America's Natural Places|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-35318-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/americasnaturalp00sapp_0/page/133 133]|url=https://archive.org/details/americasnaturalp00sapp_0|url-access=registration|editor=Methea Sapp|access-date=January 7, 2012|date=November 25, 2009}}</ref>

Over 300 species of birds have been sighted in the park including the [[calliope hummingbird]], the smallest bird species in mainland North America, as well as [[trumpeter swan]]s, which is North America's largest waterfowl.<ref name=birds>{{cite web|title=Birds|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/birds.htm|work=Nature and Science|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 7, 2012|date=December 1, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621054321/http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/birds.htm|archive-date=June 21, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In addition to trumpeter swans, another 30 species of waterfowl have been recorded including [[blue-winged teal]], [[common merganser]], [[American wigeon]] and the colorful but reclusive [[harlequin duck]] which is occasionally spotted in Cascade Canyon.<ref name=guide>{{cite web|title=Bird Finding Guide |url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/upload/birds.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824164456/http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/upload/birds.pdf |archive-date=August 24, 2009 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=January 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Both [[Bald eagle|bald]] and [[golden eagle]]s and other birds of prey such as the [[osprey]], [[red-tailed hawk]], [[American kestrel]] and occasional sightings of [[peregrine falcon]] have been reported.<ref name=checklist>{{cite web|title=Birds of Jackson Hole |url=http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r6/jackhole.htm |work=Bird Checklists of the United States |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=January 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203210250/http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r6/jackhole.htm |archive-date=December 3, 2012 }}</ref> Of the 14 species of owls reported, the most common is the [[great horned owl]], though the [[boreal owl]] and [[great grey owl]] are also seen occasionally.<ref name=checklist/> A dozen species of woodpeckers have been reported, as have a similar number of species of warblers, plovers and gulls.<ref name=checklist/> The vocal and gregarious [[black-billed magpie]] frequents campgrounds while [[Steller's jay]] and Clark's nutcracker are found in the backcountry. The sage covered plains of Jackson Hole are favored areas for [[sage grouse]], [[Brewer's sparrow]] and [[sage thrasher]]s, while the wetlands are frequented by [[great blue heron]], [[American white pelican]], [[sandhill crane]] and on rare occasions its [[endangered species|endangered]] relative, the [[whooping crane]].<ref name=guide/><ref name=checklist/>

The [[Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout]] (or Snake River cutthroat trout) is the only native trout species in Grand Teton National Park.<ref name=fish>{{cite web|title=Fish|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/fish.htm|work=Nature and Science|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 7, 2012|date=December 1, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122033353/http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/fish.htm|archive-date=November 22, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> It is also the only subspecies of [[cutthroat trout]] that is exclusively native to large streams and rivers. Various researchers have not been able to identify any genetic differences between the Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout and the [[Yellowstone cutthroat trout]], though in terms of appearances, the Snake River subspecies has much smaller spots that cover a greater portion of the body, and the two subspecies inhabit different ecological niches.<ref name="behnke">{{cite book|last=Behnke|first=Robert|title=Trout and Salmon of North America|year=2002|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-7432-2220-4|pages=175–177}}</ref> The Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout was identified by some researchers as a separate subspecies by the mid-1990s, and is managed as a distinct subspecies by the state of Wyoming, but is not yet recognized as such by the neighboring states of Idaho and Montana.<ref name=behnke/><ref name=kirk>{{cite web|last=Van Kirk|first=Robert|title=Exploring differences between fine-spotted and large-spotted Yellowstone cutthroat trout|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm8_047783.pdf|publisher=Idaho Chapter American Fisheries Society|access-date=January 7, 2012|author2=James Capurso|author3=Mark Novak|year=2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004235500/http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm8_047783.pdf|archive-date=October 4, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout is found only in the Snake River and tributaries below the Jackson Lake dam to the Palisades Reservoir in Idaho. Other non-native species of trout such as the [[rainbow trout]] and [[lake trout]] were introduced by the Wyoming Fish and Game Department or migrated out of Yellowstone.<ref name=fishGY>{{cite journal|last=O'Ney|first=Susan|author2=Rob Gipson|title=A Century of Fisheries Management in Grand Teton National Park|journal=Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem|date=October 17–19, 2005|pages=131–134|citeseerx=10.1.1.565.8446}}</ref> Today five trout species inhabit park waters.<ref name=fish/> Native species of fish include the [[mountain whitefish]], [[longnose dace]], [[mountain sucker]] and non-native species include the [[Utah chub]] and [[Arctic grayling]].<ref name=fish/>

Only four species of reptiles are documented in the park: three species of snakes which are the [[garter snake|wandering garter snake]], the less commonly seen valley garter snake, and [[rubber boa]], as well as one lizard species, the northern [[sagebrush lizard]], that was first reported in 1992. None of the species are venomous.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reptiles|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/reptiles.htm|work=Nature and Science|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 7, 2012|date=December 2, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622011541/http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/reptiles.htm|archive-date=June 22, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Six amphibian species have been documented including the [[Columbia spotted frog]], [[boreal chorus frog]], [[tiger salamander]] and the increasingly rare [[boreal toad]] and [[northern leopard frog]].<ref name=amphibians>{{cite web|title=Amphibians|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/amphib.htm|work=Nature and Science|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 7, 2012|date=December 1, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621154906/http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/amphib.htm|archive-date=June 21, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Species List |url=http://www.fort.usgs.gov/RARMI/rarmi_spplists_gyellow.asp |work=Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative: Rocky Mountain Region |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=January 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235006/http://www.fort.usgs.gov/RARMI/rarmi_spplists_gyellow.asp |archive-date=December 2, 2013 }}</ref> A sixth amphibian species, the [[American bullfrog|bullfrog]], was introduced.<ref name=amphibians/> An estimated 10,000 insect species frequent the park; they pollinate plants, provide a food source for birds, fish, mammals, and other animals, and help in the decomposition of wood.<ref name=insects>{{cite web|title=Insects|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/insects.htm|work=Nature and Science|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 7, 2012|date=December 7, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622001447/http://www.nps.gov/grte/naturescience/insects.htm|archive-date=June 22, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In one example of the importance of insects to the ecosystem, swarms of [[Army cutworm|Army cutworm moth]]s die in huge numbers after mating and provide a high fat and protein diet for bears and other predators.<ref name=insects/> One study concluded that when this moth species is most available, bears consume 40,000 moths per day which is roughly 20,000&nbsp;kcal/day.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grizzly Bear and Black Bear Ecology|url=http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/grizzlyb.htm|publisher=United States Geological Survey|access-date=January 7, 2011|date=August 1, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527125900/http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/grizzlyb.htm|archive-date=May 27, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Grand Teton National Park permits the hunting of elk to keep the populations of that species regulated. This provision was included in the legislation that combined Jackson Hole National Monument and Grand Teton National Park in 1950.<ref name=hunting>{{cite web|title=Elk Ecology and Management|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/upload/elk_11.pdf|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 22, 2012|date=January 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904003441/http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/upload/elk_11.pdf|archive-date=September 4, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> While some national parks in [[Alaska]] permit subsistence hunting by indigenous natives and a few other National Park Service managed areas allow hunting under highly regulated circumstances, hunting in American national parks is not generally allowed.<ref name=hunting/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rennicke|first=Jeff|title=Hunting in the Parks?|journal=Backpacker|date=February 1995|pages=12–13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=594DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12|access-date=January 22, 2012}}</ref> In Grand Teton National Park, hunters are required to obtain Wyoming hunting licenses and be deputized as park rangers. Hunting is restricted to areas east of the Snake River, and north of [[Moran, Wyoming|Moran]], the hunt is permitted only east of [[U.S. Route 89]].<ref name=hunting/> Proponents of continuing the elk hunt, which occurs in the fall, argue that the elk herd would become overpopulated without it, leading to vegetation degradation from overgrazing elk herds.<ref name=hunting/><ref>{{cite web|title=Annual Elk Reduction Program Begins in Grand Teton National Park|url=http://www.nps.gov/grte/parknews/news-release-11-93.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 22, 2012|date=October 5, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201185335/http://www.nps.gov/grte/parknews/news-release-11-93.htm|archive-date=February 1, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Opponents cite that there has been an increase of predators such as the wolf and grizzly bear in Grand Teton National Park, rendering the annual hunt unnecessary and exposing hunters to attacks by grizzly bears as they become accustomed to feeding on remains left behind from the hunt.<ref name=hatch>{{cite news|last=Hatch|first=Cory|title=Attack stokes criticism of hunt|url=http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/top_stories/attack-stokes-criticism-of-hunt/image_0aeaa665-cf9e-5b7b-9d16-2fc20d0028a0.html|access-date=January 22, 2012|newspaper=Jackson Hole News and Guide|date=November 2, 2011}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="180px" class="center">
File:Mountain Lion in Grand Teton National Park.jpg|Though cougars are present in Grand Teton, they are rarely seen.
File:Moose in Grand Teton NP near Leigh Lake-750px.JPG|Moose near Leigh Lake
File:Snakecutt.jpg|Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout has tiny black spots over most of its body.
File:Bison Teton.JPG|Bison grazing in Jackson Hole
</gallery>