Yellowstone and Grand Teton Wildlife

Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, along with five National Forests and numerous Wilderness lands and reserves, help comprise the 28-million-acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), one of the largest intact temperate-zone ecosystems on Earth. The GYE is one of the world's foremost natural laboratories in landscape ecology and geology, and is the home to rich, diverse wildlife. Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been documented in the GYE, including species that are either endangered or extinct. The millions of visitors who visit the GYE every year have the amazing opportunity to point a telephoto lens, spotting scope, or set of binoculars at wild grizzly bears, bison, moose, bald eagles, elk, wolves, and other wildlife. In particular, this region is one of the few places in the Lower 48 where visitors can still encounter the full complement of large, wild mammals. The GYE has the world's largest elk herd (the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming), the world's largest free-roaming bison herd and the world's greatest concentration of bighorn sheep. The secretive and rarely seen wolverine and lynx are also found here. A massive multi-state conservation effort involving numerous conservation groups and agencies, landowners, and stakeholders is ongoing in order to preserve the GYE for future generations.

The collection of photographs that appear in this gallery were taken during a trip made to the Greater Yellowstone area in summer 2009 intended to serve as an introduction to the region.