Wildlife You Can Easily See in Alaska and the Yukon

Part of the thrill of visiting Alaska or the Yukon is seeing a variety of wildlife from the comfort and safety of your vehicle. I come from the Midwest, where it is not uncommon to see thirty deer on your way home from work, or have close encounters with multitudes of turkeys. I will always remember a particular highway drive in Minnesota when a turkey roughly the size of a piano flew just past my windshield.

In Alaska and the Yukon, your chances of spotting animals much larger than turkeys are rather high. The Yukon’s motto isn’t “Larger than Life” for nothing, after all. Here are some examples of animals that I have seen, and that you can too!

Moose

If you visit Alaska, the chance of you seeing a moose is 100%. I saw two moose within minutes of landing in Alaska, and proceeded to see 16 more during my week there. The most memorable was seeing a moose family crossing a busy intersection in downtown Anchorage. Traffic came to a halt, drivers looking bored and annoyed at having to stop for another herd of moose on the city streets. I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, but here is a different roadside moose.

Caribou

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, there are 950,000 caribou in Alaska, divided into 32 herds. We saw this clump while driving on a rural highway through Alaska. During my brief research to find the above facts, I learned that caribou are called reindeer in Europe.

Elk

There are two known elk herds in the Yukon: The Takhini Valley herd and the Braeburn herd, totaling about 260 elk. We saw a number of the Takhini Valley herd while driving to Haines Junction last winter. There were quite a lot of them lounging among the trees, but as our car approached, they became rather shy, kind of like that one family member we all have that refuses to pose nicely for pictures.

Lynxes

Lynxes, similar to bobcats of the lower 48, are more elusive than members of the deer family. We were lucky enough to see this one at the side of a road in Alaska.

Foxes

I was very excited to see my first fox in the Yukon this past July. It was at the side of a dirt road in Dawson. We drove right past it, then stopped the car a ways in front of it. Usually you’d expect animals to run away from cars, but this little fox made a cute squealing sound and bounded after our vehicle. It stopped right outside our car window and posed for pictures.

Bears

On our recent road trip from Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon, Jeremy and I were having a little competition to pass the time. We decided that Jeremy would get points for seeing small mammals, bears, and foxes. I would get points for seeing members of the deer family and birds. Jeremy had just opened his mouth to complain that this competition was unfair, and we were never going to see any bears, when I screamed “OH MY GOSH, I JUST SAW TWO BEARS!!!” Sure enough, two black bears (though one of them was more of a chestnut color) were ambling through the trees at the side of the road. I was very content, even though it was Jeremy who got the points. Actually, Jeremy forfeited when we passed the sign alerting us to the close proximity of the entire Braeburn elk herd.

Awkward Dogs

Okay, I know these aren’t wildlife, but in Alaska and the Yukon it is highly likely that you may see dogs that are ferocious and fearless around bears and mountain lions, but somewhat socially awkward around people. They are loveable creatures, and provide great protection when you venture outdoors.

Click here to read more of my Alaska blog posts, and here to read my Yukon blog posts.