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Wildlife in British Columbia
British Columbia is home to many large mammals. There is still a fair amount of big game hunting done. The hunting is controlled by the Provincial Government and has been tightened up very much in the last few years. Thanks to the strict regulation we can observe most of our native animals in the wild. That is why many people do not believe we have to keep wild animals in a zoo. With a little effort anybody can observe them in the wild.
Here are some of our wild animals.
This
is a Cougar
also called a Mountain Lion; it is a large
cat. A male adult can measure up to 2.7 meters including an 80-centimeter
tail. It can weigh up to 80 kg. You can spot them along the coast and in
the interior mountains.
These are Bighorn Sheep. The Rocky Mountain Bighorn lives mainly on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. From the Crowsnest pass North to just South of Golden. It is slightly larger then the California Bighorn. The California Bighorn can be seen on some eastern slopes of the Cascade, the Fraser canyon and the canyon of the Chilcotin River.
The
Grizzly bear is a very large animal.
It can weigh up to 500 kg. It lives in the coastal forests and in the interior
usually at higher altitudes. It can be found throughout the mountainous area
of the Province.
The
Wolverine is a very powerful animal.
It weighs only up to 15 kg, but any Grizzly avoids it. The Wolverine
eats mainly birds and mammals. It is very hard to find by humans. If you
do see one, you will see that it somewhat resembles a short-legged bear.
In my life I have only seen two.
Not to
forget the Moose, the largest of the
American deer family, about the size of a Horse. This is a female
Moose with a calf. The Moose is a forest animal and lives on deciduous trees
and shrubs. In summer it stays mainly at higher altitudes and will migrate
as far as 100 km for the winter.
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