Risky business
This tiny mammal can consume up to 600 mosquitos in a single hour, saving campers from an itchy fate. They are also classified as endangered according to the species at risk act otherwise known as SARA.
What is the Little Brown Bat?
While sometimes considered “the boss” of the Rocky Mountains, this large species of animal is often mistaken for its smaller counterpart as their fur colours can be similar. Their main distinguishing features include a hump behind their shoulders and long claws for digging.
What is a Grizzly Bear?
Efforts such as “Clean Drain Dry Certify” and “Don’t let them loose” help prevent the spread of this.
What are aquatic invasive species?
Playing a large role in the development of tourism in Lake Louise and later becoming the main provider of Swiss mountain guides in the Rockies, this building has suffered two major fires in the century and a half it has been here.
What is the Chateau Lake Louise?
Following the discovery of the Cave and Basin hot spring, Banff National Park was established as "Banff Hot Springs Reserve" in this year.
What is 1885?
This strong jawed animal is rarely spotted by our biologists, but we know many call this place home from their appearances on trail cameras. Some even refer to them as “Skunk Bears” due to their appearance.
What is a Wolverine?
The easiest and most eco friendly way to get up to the Lake Louise Lakeshore, aside from hiking or biking, is to take this mode of transport.
What is the Parks Canada Shuttle?
Following nearly a century of fire suppression policy, Parks Canada is working to restore fire and its benefits to the landscape in this controlled way.
What is a prescribed fire?
This animal was reintroduced to Banff in 2017 and is important to all 8 Nations that make up the Banff Indigenous Advisory Circle (Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations, Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, Tsuut’ina Nation and Rocky View Métis District).
What is Bison?
These 5 needled trees prefer to live close to the treeline at higher elevations. Their presence helps to stabilize slopes and regulate snowmelt, while their seeds offer a very nutritious meal for birds, squirrels and bears.
What is the White Bark Pine and the Limber Pine?
Large carnivores like bears, cougars and wolves require a minimum of 100m of space from humans. Ungulates, such as elk and deer, require at least this many metres.
What is 30 metres?
While seeing Parks Canada cutting down trees might seem counter intuitive; large swaths of tree removal provide habitats for all sorts of wildlife such as grizzlies and wolves and help protect communities like Banff and Lake Louise.
What is a fire guard?
This rail company was in the business of both trains and tourism in the late 1800s and early 1900s, building hotels and chalets throughout the mountain parks to help recoup their costs of building the cross-country railway.
What is Canadian Pacific Railway (CPKC)?
This endangered bird who shares a last name with the Eras tour pop star will spend the winter as far south as Brazil before returning to Banff National Park to nest in Marble Canyon and Johnston Canyon.
What is the Black Swift?
This iconic container now used across Canada and the US was first commissioned by Parks Canada in 1983. Since then, it has stopped bears from accessing human food and perplexed many visitors.
What is the bear proof garbage bin?
First detected in Canada in Johnson Lake near Banff in 2016, and more recently in Lake Louise in 2025, this aquatic invasive species affects salmonids (Salmon and Trout) and causes skeletal deformation, making the fish swim in circles or whirling patterns.
What is Whirling Disease?
Light reflecting off this substance is what give the lakes in the park their brilliant blue and green colour. Glaciers moving and grinding against the mountains pushes this into the flow of water down to the lake.
What is rock flour?
Bears in the park that are known to wildlife officers are generally given an identification number. Bear 122 is well known as “The Boss”, and “Split lip” is otherwise known as this.
What is Bear 136?