From Katmai for brown bears to Dry Tortugas for nurse sharks, these are the best American national parks for wildlife watching
A canyon large enough to influence the weather, a hotbed of volcanic activity and an eerie desert landscape home to one of the hottest places on Earth. Yes, American national parks boast some of the most astounding natural wonders on the planet.
For many, however, the real appeal of America’s national parks is the living flora and fauna, often rare and unusual, that quietly inhabit the landscape. Moose, bears, bison, elk, wolves and mountain lions often steal the show, but there are hundreds of other species roaming the American plains.
On average, each US national park is home to 415 species of wildlife with each playing an essential role in the ecosystem. From the tiny but tough pika to America’s largest waterfowl, the trumpeter swan, these reserves are full of wild surprises. But where are you most likely to run into them?
Vacation specialists Casago recently commissioned an analysis of National Park Service (NPS) data to find out which parks have the most wildlife and plants per 100km2 and which are the most biodiverse overall.
Parks by numbers
The number of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and vascular plants was compiled using NPS-approved records of species that fell under any of those six categories for each park. The counts were then combined to find the total number of animals and vascular plants per national park.
To find flora and fauna density, wildlife species (all five categories of animal species) and vascular plant species were calculated per 100km2 for each park.
- Congaree in South Carolina has the highest density of wildlife species at 362 per 100km2
- Biscayne in Florida has the highest number overall with a total of 1,002
- New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns has the highest density of bird species at 194 per 100km2
- Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio has the most biodiverse plant life at 935 species per 100km2
- The Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee has the highest number of plant species overall at 2,278
- American Samoa has the highest number of fish species at 818, followed by Biscayne with 698
America’s…
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