Wildlife at Great Bear Rainforest

When most people hear the word “rainforest” they think of hot, tropical jungles, like in the Amazon. But there are also temperate rainforests, which means that they can be cooler and have conifer trees. That’s right, it can feel like Christmas in the rainforest!Great Bear Rainforest is in Canada on the British Columbia Coast. It has incredibly unique wildlife because it is close to both the mountains and the ocean. Here are some of the animals we saw there:

Sea Lions.

These social animals love to hang out together on land. They stay in a big group and jump in the water when they are hungry or want to go for a swim. They eat all kinds of fish and can stay underwater for five minutes at a time.

Cougars.

There are lots of cougars in the Great Bear, although they prefer to come out at night and can be hard to spot during the day. Also known as mountain lions, these cats are large and quiet. They hunt small animals like rodents, or large animals like deer. They can jump 18 feet into the air and run up to 50 miles per hour!

Whales.

Humpbacks, fin whales, and killer whales all can be seen in the Great Bear. Lots of people visit just to catch a glimpse of them from their boats and we were lucky to see a whole bunch of humpback whales. They like to slap the water with their tails and eat tiny fish like krill.

Spirit Bear.

A subspecies of the black bear is the Kermode bear. They are native to the area and nicknamed “spirit bears” in BC. They are very special because one out of every ten cubs is white instead of black. Spirit bears are one of the rarest animals on earth, so we were very excited to see one!Have you seen any special wildlife? Tell us about it in the comments.