• View of Half Dome and Washington Column in Yosemite Valley

    Yosemite

    National Park California

Special Status Mammal Species

Badger sits in a grassy field

American badger

Dave Herr/U.S. Forest Service

Designations of protection can be state or federally issued. In the case of Yosemite National Park’s mammal species, the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep is the only animal listed with the highest protections as federally and state endangered.

  • Federally Endangered (FE)
  • Federal Candidate (FC)
  • State Endangered (SE)
  • State Threatened (ST)
  • California Species of Concern (CSC)

Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep—FE/SE
Pacific fisher—FC/CSC
Mount Lyell shrew—CSC
Pallid bat—CSC
Townsend’s big-eared bat—CSC
Spotted bat—CSC
Western red bat—CSC
Western mastiff bat—CSC
Sierra Nevada mountain beaver—CSC
Sierra Nevada snowshoe hare—CSC
Western white-tailed jackrabbit—CSC
Sierra Nevada red fox—ST
California wolverine—ST
American badger—CSC

Did You Know?

Merced River Gorge

Descending from Yosemite Valley, the Merced River becomes a continuous cascade in a narrow gorge littered by massive boulders. Dropping 2,000 feet in 14 miles, canyon walls rise steeply from the river and have many seasonal waterfalls cascading down to the river.