Explore Utah

Utah wildlife and plants

The animals and plants of Utah's mountain forests, red-rock desert, sagebrush valleys and Great Salt Lake wetlands.

Get to know Utah through the animals and plants that live here. Browse the 63 profiles by habitat or region, compare a species' seasonal habits, and follow the linked agency and university sources when you want to learn more. Start with the landscape you expect to visit, then narrow the list to wildlife or plants.

This is an introduction, not a full inventory or field guide. Region labels show where a species lives, not where you will see it. Seasonal notes describe general patterns, and we don't publish exact sites for nests, roosts, colonies or rare plants. Check the land manager's current access information separately before a trip.

Choose a way in

I saw something and want to learn about it.Search a common or scientific name below. If you don't know the name, start with a broad group and habitat, then compare the profile's details rather than relying on color alone.
I'm planning a nature walk.Choose a region and habitat, and read a few profiles before you leave. Keep expectations flexible: a quiet walk is still a chance to notice plants, tracks and the way habitats connect.
I'm looking for wildflowers.Start with the wildflower planning guide, then use the plant profiles. Flowering windows are broad patterns, not a bloom forecast.
I'm visiting with children or a new observer.Pick one plant and one animal to learn about. Make the goal careful observation, not finding every species on a checklist.

Learn the landscape

A seasonal comparison makes a familiar landscape easier to read. At Arches, rainfall strongly shapes the wildflower display; at Cedar Breaks, high meadows bloom through a short summer. Those are local examples of why one statewide "best week" would mislead. Try the mountain and desert habitats, then the spring and summer pages.

Each profile answers three separate questions: what the organism is, what habitat or range its sources support, and what a visitor can responsibly observe. Conservation labels are shown with their category, scope and date, because a federal listing, a state priority list and a native-or-introduced label answer different questions.

New: guides to 7 habitats, four seasons and watching well, with the profiles that belong together.

16 profiles. Region means a place or range the sources name, plus species found statewide.

Wildlife

Mammals

Mule deer

Found across Utah, from high mountains to city neighborhoods, and named for its large, mule-like ears.

Odocoileus hemionus

Elk resting and grazing in snow at Hardware Ranch — File photo: Elk at Hardware Ranch, Utah, January 2011. Photo: runt35 · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mammals

Rocky Mountain elk

Utah's state mammal, best known for the fall bugling of bulls during the rut.

Cervus elaphus nelsoni

File photo: A bison on Antelope Island with snowy Wasatch Mountains behind it (Taken on 18 March 2023, 19:26:38). Photo: Eric Kilby · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mammals

American bison

North America's largest land animal, with wild herds on Antelope Island, in the Henry Mountains and in the Book Cliffs.

Bison bison

Mammals

Pronghorn

An open-country specialist with a white rump, unusual shedding horn sheaths and a need for connected habitat.

Antilocapra americana

Mammals

Desert bighorn sheep

Sure-footed sheep of the slickrock, restored to Zion after disappearing there.

Ovis canadensis nelsoni

Mammals

Mountain goat

White climbers of the high rock, brought to Utah starting in 1967.

Oreamnos americanus

Mammals

Cougar

Also called mountain lion or puma, and found wherever Utah's deer are.

Puma concolor

Mammals

Bobcat

A seldom-seen wild cat named for its short, bobbed tail.

Mammals

Coyote

Common across Utah, including in cities, and an opportunist that will eat almost anything.

Mammals

Utah prairie dog

A Utah endemic whose short-grass colonies support a much larger community of grassland wildlife.

Cynomys parvidens

A Townsend’s big-eared bat hanging from rock — File photo: Townsend’s big-eared bat in Utah, BLM archive. One of the bat species found in the state. Photo: John Larson / BLM Utah · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mammals

Bats

Insect-eating flying mammals whose lives depend on suitable roosts, water and a safe seasonal cycle.

Mammals

Ringtail

An elusive raccoon relative that moves through canyon rock with a long black-and-white ringed tail.

Bassariscus astutus

Reptiles

Mojave desert tortoise

A long-lived desert reptile whose slow life history and reliance on shelter make disturbance especially costly.

Gopherus agassizii

A chuckwalla wedged into a red rock crevice at Zion National Park — File photo: a chuckwalla wedged into a red rock crevice at Zion National Park. Photo: Zion National Park · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Reptiles

Common chuckwalla

A heavy-bodied, mostly plant-eating lizard that uses rocky crevices as both refuge and defense.

Sauromalus ater

Plants

Grasses

Indian ricegrass

Utah's state grass is a cool-season perennial whose airy seedheads rise from distinct clumps on dry ground.

Achnatherum hymenoides

Dwarf bearclaw poppy in white bloom on barren clay soil — File photo: dwarf bearclaw poppy in white bloom on barren clay soil. Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Wildflowers

Dwarf bear-poppy

A federally endangered Utah endemic whose white flowers and low leaf tufts belong to specialized gypsum-soil habitat.

Arctomecon humilis