Wildlife

A diverse group of animals guarantees that you will see some kind of wildlife in your travels through the park.

Plan Around Wildlife

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Wildlife Details

Big Bend national park has an extraordinarily diverse group of wildlife due to the wide variety terrain including desert, mountains, riverbeds, upland shrubs and the occasional desert oasis. The park is home to 450 species of birds, 75 species of mammals, 56 species of reptiles, and 11 species of amphibians. People most frequently want to see the mountain lions and bears, so, the rangers have put together a report that they post at the end of every month based off of reported sightings. If you want to see where the most recent sightings have been to better plan your wildlife viewing, check out [the reports](https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/nature/sightings.htm). Remember they can only list the sightings if you report them! While mountain lions and bears (oh my!) are exciting and rare , you are more likely to see a javelina, roadrunner, mule deer, coyote, lizards of all kinds or jackrabbit. Birding is very popular in the park and every year you can participate in the [Christmas Bird Count](https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/xmas-bird-counts.htm), an annual survey of the different species of birds in the park. The wildlife is most active at dawn and dusk. One of the best places to see wildlife is down by the riverbed where some may linger to be near the water. Also, because of the desert conditions, the greenest plants are the ones near the road, so driving along the paved road can be the best way to catch a glimpse of a four legged friend. If you do see some wildlife and you would like to linger and watch, please pull off to the road so that other cars can continue to use the sometimes narrow roads.

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