Wildlife

Rocky Mountain National Park is home to several large mammals rarely seen outside its borders, including elk and bighorn sheep. Black bears and coyotes also are numerous, and the park is home to a healthy population of mountain lions, although it's rare that you'll see one. Missing are the wolves that once kept the local elk population in check. The abundant squirrels you see with the large, tufted ears and bushy tails are Abert's squirrels, which nest in ponderosa pine trees and eat the trees' fungus, seeds, buds, pollen, and young, male pinecones. In winter, they will also eat the inner bark of certain trees -- but not the ones they nest in. At higher elevations you may spy the white-tailed ptarmigan, fluffy white birds that thrive despite the harsh alpine winters. Populations of native greenback cutthroat trout, an endangered species, and Colorado River cutthroat trout have been restored in some park areas, and are catch-and-release only. The park also is home to at least 139 species of butterflies, more than some entire states.