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All animals have different needs.
The canyon gives many creatures a good place to live. It has warmth for salamanders that like the sun. It has cool air for furry black bears. Sheep and deer get leafy plants to eat, and fish get cool waters to swim in.
The Grand Canyon is home to more than 80 species of mammals. It has 50 species of reptiles and amphibians too. You’ll also find 25 fish species. Plus, there are more than 300 kinds of birds.
Today, the most common animal in the canyon is the human tourist. But right now, let’s meet a few of the locals.
Fish
▲ Hundreds of species of fish thrive in the Colorado River. However, only eight are native to the canyon. Others are stocked, or brought in by humans. The native squawfish (above) is endangered. It can grow up to 5 feet long and weigh up to 80 pounds.
◀ The Glen Canyon Dam has not been good for some of the canyon’s fish. It cooled down the Colorado River, so many native fish became extinct. Others are endangered. The non-native rainbow trout (left) was brought by humans. It also threatens native species.
Arachnids
▲ The canyon is home to more than six types of scorpions. The most common is the giant hairy scorpion. It’s six inches long! But its bite is usually no worse than a bee sting.
Reptiles
◀ The little zebra-tailed lizard lives on the hot rocks at lower elevations. It’s only about 3.5 inches long. When it senses danger, it stands on its hind legs. Then it speeds away at up to 18 miles per hour!
Birds
▲ The golden eagle nests high in the cliff walls. This graceful bird has a wingspan of more than six feet! So, it can easily swoop down and grab prey. It eats squirrels, jackrabbits, mice, and fish. It even eats baby bighorn sheep!
◀ The rarest bird in the canyon is the California condor. This is the largest bird in North America. It has a wingspan of 10 feet! Not long ago, condors were almost extinct. But now more than 70 live in the park. They were bred in captivity in the 1980s and 1990s, which helped bring them back.
Mammals
▲ What is the most feared predator in the canyon? The mountain lion. This big cat is also called a panther, puma, or cougar. People don’t see them often. They mostly move around at night. Mountain lions can weigh up to 160 pounds. They live mostly in forests along the North Rim and eat mule deer, elk, and bighorn sheep.
▲ Elk live in the woods on the canyon rims. An elk can make a tasty 750-pound meal for a mountain lion! The two animals have something in common, though. Like bighorn sheep, both were once hunted almost to extinction.
◀ Bighorn sheep live only on the most hard-to-reach slopes of the inner canyon. They have large, curled horns. They stand almost totally still on cliffs. When scared, they can leap almost straight up to a ledge above them.
The Kaibab squirrel is a native of the canyon’s North Rim. It lives nowhere else on Earth. ▶
