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Wildlife
Canada and Alaska are known for their
huge tracts of pristine wilderness, the
sheer scale of which has done much to protect
the abundant concentrations of animals.
Close encounters with wildlife are frequently
superb. The nutrient-rich seas attract some of
the world’s greatest concentrations of seabirds
but also support countless marine mammals:
Canada’s coast can offer some of the world’s
best whale sightings. On land the large
mammals comfortably outnumber the
human population. Here it is possible to see
polar bears hunt from ice floes, black bears
slouch through the woods and grizzly bears
fish salmon out of fast-flowing rivers.
Bison still congregate in herds while elk,
moose, caribou and musk oxen provide
thrilling encounters.
Bears
One of the delights of travelling in Canada and
Alaska is the very real chance that you will see a
bear. The two species that you are likely to
encounter are grizzly and black bears. Black bears
are smaller than the grizzly and lack the distinctive
hump on the back of the neck. In the spring,
bears emerge from hibernation to mate and to
feed. Their diet consists of all kinds of vegetable
matter including berries, flowers, grasses and
sedges as well as fish, insects, honey and even
elk and moose. The largest populations of grizzly
bears are in Alaska, British Columbia and the
Northwest Territories. Kodiak Island in Alaska
is renowned for being home to the largest
grizzlies in the world while nearby Brooks Falls
in Katmai National Park is home to the thrilling
spectacle of grizzlies catching salmon as they
leap up the falls. The rare kermode, or spirit bear,
is unique to remote parts of coastal British
Columbia and due to a recessive gene has a
distinctive white coat. These bears, related to
black bears, are agile salmon catchers and are
a thrill to see in their natural setting.
Polar Bears
One of the most thrilling sights in the Arctic is to
see Ursus Maritimus, the world’s largest bear, in
its native environment. In the autumn bears
congregate near the small northern Manitoba town
of Churchill waiting for the ice to freeze in order
to hunt for seals. During the summer months polar
bears are seen at the mouth of the Seal River on
Hudson Bay and in the vast and untamed lands of
the northern tundra where small ship cruises and
specialist lodges offer thrilling opportunities to see
these magnificent bears in their natural habitat –
often swimming or foraging amongst the fireweed.
Wolves
Often vilified and hunted almost to extinction, there
are now estimated to be over 50,000 wolves across
Canada and Alaska, occupying over 80 percent of
their original range. The grey wolf is also known as
the timber wolf and prefers the open tundra and
forest habitat where it will live in packs of five to
twenty animals, depending on the abundance of
prey. Their main food sources are moose and elk
which they hunt in teams, primarily at night. You are
most likely to see wolves at dawn or sunset but
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