Bald Eagle

Wildlife in the Gateway Region

Great Slave Gateway is home to a wide variety of wildlife. From the highways, bison, black bears and sometimes moose can be seen. Woodland caribou inhabit the area accompanied by grey wolves. Lynx have been spotted as well. The nesting grounds of the endangered whooping crane are in a secluded area of Wood Buffalo National Park close by. Red fox, beaver and muskrat are common.

Moose

Grizzly Bear

Wolf

Wolves are plentiful in the Northwest Territories, making their living as the main animal predators of caribou. They travel with the caribou, working in packs to bring down calves or take advantage of injured and sick animals. Hunters often spot and track them by following the caribou in March. Wolf packs can also kill moose by forcing them to run until they tire. They will also eat much smaller animals like lemmings.

Polar Bear

Dall Sheep

There are 15,000 or more Dall’s sheep in the Mackenzie Mountains. Rams roam in small groups of three to 10. The ram with the largest horns in any group is the dominant male. Dall’s sheep are particularly sensitive to noise, and the sounds of aircraft and vehicles will cause them to scatter in panic, often separating lambs from their mothers, and causing life-threatening injuries.

Muskox

Mountain Goat

Mountain goats have short black horns and shaggy white coats that make them easy to spot on the high ledges of the Mackenzie Mountains. But they’re extremely agile and can escape the hunter with relative ease. They feed on alpine grasses and flowers. Those heavy coats keep them comfortable even in the deepest cold of winter. The Northern population is estimated at fewer than 1,000 animals.

Caribou

Barrenground caribou bulls stand just over a metre (four feet) high at the shoulder, and weigh about 136 kilograms (300 lbs) after fattening through the summer. Their winter survival depends largely on their large, sharp hooves, which allow them to dig through snow and ice for lichens. When migrating, they walk about 6.5 km (four miles) per hour, and can cover up to 48 km (30 miles) per day.