Town of Banff

Natural Environment

The Bow Valley is critical wildlife habitat in the Montane Zone around Banff

Banff National Park is 6,641 sq kms of mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows, lakes and rivers. Banff, along with Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks and four adjacent provincial parks, form the UNESCO Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site - one of the largest protected areas in the world.

Differences in altitude, slope direction, soil, water and depth of the snowpack create three distinct zones:

Alpine Zone accounts for 40 percent of the park. It is mostly rock and ice.

Subalpine Zone, or mid-zone, between the lower valleys and the tree line.

Montane Zone, the lowest and most biologically rich zone is 3 percent of the park and is critical habitat for wildlife.

Most human development is in the montane.

Flora, fauna, fish and fowl

On the lower slopes of Sulphur Mountain the thermal hot springs allow plant life that would not normally grow at that altitude to flourish. The area is home to approximately 193 species of plants including, eight species of orchids and three species of rare plants.

The Vermilion Lakes, the Cave and Basin Marsh and the Middle Springs make up the largest wetland complex in the area containing one of the most important shrub/wetland bird communities within the Rocky Mountain Parks.

Mammals

53 species of mammals live in Banff National Park: 29 are mammals including pygmy shrews, squirrels, marmots, porcupines, muskrats, pack rats, rabbits and beavers.

Ungulates (hooved animals) are herbivorous (plant eating); they chew their cud and have chambered stomachs. The deer family includes elk, white-tailed and mule deer, moose, and woodland caribou. The sheep and goat family includes bighorn sheep and mountain goats.

At the top of the food chain are carnivores, although some are omnivores. Four families live in Banff: weasel (pine marten, ermine, the long-tailed weasel, fisher and wolverine); canine (wolves, coyotes); feline (lynx and mountain lion); bear (grizzly, black).

A birder's paradise

Four of the most commonly sighted birds the Gray Jay, the Clark's Nutcracker, the Black-billed Magpie, and the Raven, all members of the Crow family.

Three types of chickadees are permanent residents. Several species of grouse and ptarmigan live in the subalpine. The predatory osprey, bald eagle and golden eagle are seasonal residents. You'll also see Wwaterfowl and neo-tropical migrants such as the black swift, which migrates from Costa Rica.

Fish, frogs and snails

Mountain whitefish, dolly varden, bull and cutthroat trout and lake trout are indigenous to Banff's waterways. Other native fish include the lake chub, the long-nose dace, the stickleback and two species of suckers. Rainbow and brook trout were introduced, as were some tropical fish, which though accidentally introduced to the warm water of the Cave and Basin marsh, continue to thrive both there and in parts of the Vermilion Lakes.

Despite the harsh mountain climate, amphibians and reptiles do survive in Banff. While rare, sitings have been reported of members of the frog, toad, salamander, and snake families.

The Banff long-nose dace, once found near the Cave and Basin thermal springs, is listed as extinct  and the Banff Springs Snailis currently listed as endangered.

To learn more, visit Parks Canada.