Just south of Yellowstone National Park in the northwest corner of Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park is one of the top 10 most visited national parks in the country: 3.6 million people visited the park in 2024 alone. Apart from its rugged mountains and other stunning scenery, the abundant wildlife in the park is a key draw. Here we’ve selected almost a dozen photographs of the wildlife that lives there, all of which were taken by NPS photographers within the bounds of Grand Teton.
A red fox with its breakfast. Foxes are known to help naturally control rodent and rabbit populations, and they hunt by freezing, listening, leaping on, and pinning down their prey. Photo by John Tobiason / NPSA coyote demonstrates the classic hunting technique foxes are best known for. Coyotes are opportunistic hunters that eat most anything and everything they can catch. Photo by A. Falgoust / NPSA pika gathers vegetation to store in its nest for eating later. Pikas live in talus — rocky areas at the base of sloping cliffs — and are vulnerable to rising global temperatures, though their numbers are doing well within Glacier National Park. Photo by T. Chavis / NPSTwo bison fight during the rut, which peaks in July and August. Bulls fight each other for breeding rights, but they also display other curious behavior, like increased wallowing — “males will roll violently on the ground to display aggression,” according to the NPS. You can also look to a bison’s tail for its breeding status: a tail held high in a “question mark” shape is commonly seen among territorial bulls. Photo by C.J. Adams / NPSBighorns also fight for breeding rights. Here, two rams square up in front of onlooking sheep. Photo by M. Nall / NPSWhile fights between bighorn rams can be incredibly violent — with rams charging each other at up to 20 mph before butting heads — sometimes they just tussle, as pictured here. Photo by M. Nall / NPSA rutting bull elk corrals his cows. It’s not unusual for a dominant bull to gather harems of up to 20 or more cows during the rut. He spends significant energy guarding his cows from other bulls and tending them for breeding. The elk that migrate through Grand Teton are part of the country’s largest elk herd. Photo by C.J. Adams / NPSA magpie lands on a moose. Magpies often land on ungulates like moose and elk to feed on the insects that bother them, like ticks. Curiously, researchers have found that an ungulate’s tolerance for cleaner-birds like magpies depends on its personality. Photo by John Tobiason / NPSA pronghorn antelope shakes like a wet dog on a rare rainy day. Because most pronghorn live in grassland or shrub-steppe, they often rely on their diet of forbs provide most of their moisture. Photo by John Tobiason / NPSA grizzly sow stands on her hind legs to see above the sage brush. This bear, Grizzly 399, was Grand Teton National Park’s most well-known bear, due in part to her litter of four cubs in 2020. (The average size of a grizzly litter is two cubs.) Healthy sow grizzlies give birth once every two years, and can live up to 30 years in the wild, but usually die before the age of 25. Grizzly 399 — a prolific breeder — was 28 when she was killed by a vehicle. Photo by C.J. Adams / NPS
