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Plants & Animals

The Seward Peninsula boasts a rich and diverse birdlife. More than 170 known species include such seabirds as gulls, murres, and kittiwakes; such migrating and nesting waterfowl as ducks, swans, and geese; such birds of prey as hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls; and many songbirds of tundra and uplands. At the crossroads of the Asiatic-North American flyway, this area offers rare opportunities to observe several Old World species.

Mammals include muskox, grizzly bears, moose, reindeer, wolves, wolverines, foxes, and other smaller species.

Reindeer from Siberia were introduced here in 1891 as a meat source to replace native caribou that seem to have disappeared earlier in the century. Reindeer herding and husbandry is a small but thriving industry for Eskimo herdsmen.

In winter, polar bears frequent the coastline and may come ashore.

Marine mammals occasionally seen along the coast include several species of seals, walrus, and beluga and bowhead whales.

Fish in area rivers, streams, and lakes include several species of salmon, grayling, char, whitefish, and pike.