Wildlife

The forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are alive with wildlife, from fireflies that can synchronize their flashes to bears that occupy the top of the food chain. Sixty species of birds make their home here year-round, and 120 species breed in the park. The spruce-fir forest on the highest ridges is similar to the boreal forest of Canada and is the southernmost breeding range of the Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Blackburnian and Canada warblers, the Veery, and the Winter Wren. In addition to bears and elk, other mammals that live in the park are white-tailed deer, coyote, bobcats, foxes, skunks, squirrels, and bats -- 66 species in all. Otters have been reintroduced to the park, but once-native bison and wolves remain absent. One big non-native intruder, the wild European hog, is blamed for disrupting the ecosystem, and park officials have worked to control their numbers. Brook trout are numerous in park streams, and the park is famous for its salamander population -- in fact, the Smokies are known as the Salamander Capital of the World. There are dozens of species here, including the colorful black-chinned red salimander. Copperheads and rattlesnakes are among the 23 snake species in the park.